The simplicity of science and handcuffs
by shortycallmehobbit
Summary: All major events of S4/5 covered but with my own take on it. There will be drama, romance and fluff. "How would you define love? Like tacky, commercialised rubbish that makes me want to vomit from my pores." It certainly wasn't a brunette with an affinity for snarky blondes.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: **Hey there! So I have this habit of starting things and then never finishing them... However, I got this one planned out with achievable goals so yay! I just finished writing my thesis and am at a loss as to what to do in my life right now. It's been awhile since I wrote anything that wasn't serious and science-y so if you enjoy it, review it, heck - even if you read it, I'm happy. Feel free to give feedback, I'd greatly appreciate it :)

The characters aren't mine, I don't own anything. Just a poor student with crushing debt. All errors, however, are mine. Do feel free to point them out to me xox

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1.<strong>

"_Things should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler_."

Love was potentially the most complicated, abstract idea in the world. How on Earth could anyone make it simple enough to understand but not detract from its complexity?

For a certain blonde police officer, love was messy.

Love was her Mother buying her a gym subscription at the age of 10 because she'd "put a little bit on over the summer and Peck's needed to stay in peak physical condition".

Love was coming first in her class at Police Academy, only to have her parents' critique every part of her performance.

Love was her boyfriend leaving her to join the Army without any warning or explanation. Oh, and here was the kicker: come back, work in the same building as her, become engaged and then fall in love with her friend.

Suffice to say, Gail Peck could not easily define love. It represented a myriad of different feelings, most of which weren't exactly pleasant. It wasn't all bad though, perhaps Gail's fondest definition of love was her brother Steve. The man who would literally do anything for his sister as she would for him. They had grown up as a team and although their interaction suggested an unhealthy amount of sibling rivalry, Steve was maybe Gail's favourite person in the world.

Love was NOT however, sitting on her best friend's couch watching a God-awful romcom on her only day off for the week.

"Ugh. Traci, I'm not watching this shit anymore." Gail threw a scrunched up cheese puff bag at the screen where two protagonists were currently engaged in what Traci would call 'love-making' and Gail would refer to as 'gross, sweaty humping'.

The darker haired woman smirked, "I thought it'd would've taken a lot longer for you to cave, I'm impressed Peck."

Gail dropped her head slightly, embarrassed. "You were out of cheese puffs, I couldn't handle it."

"So what's up Gail? You've been moodier than normal lately, I found a rookie crying in the lockers last week about 'some ice blonde bitch'. It's Nick and Andy am I right?" Traci flicked off the movie and settled back into the cushions, waiting for the blonde to start speaking.

"Nope. No idea what you're talking about, totally over G.I Joe and 'she who must not be named'." Her tone was nonchalant but Traci knew that Gail was more hurt than she let on. She cocked her head slightly and waited patiently.

True to form, if Traci held out long enough, Gail would blurt out everything on her mind. "I don't even care about the Nick thing. Everyone thinks it's that, but it isn't. I'm pissed at Andy, Trace. She broke the code and I'm just … argh." Gail buried her head into the cushion beside her and groaned.

Traci nodded, not wanting to push the subject. "You should come out with me tonight. I've been dying for a night off and we haven't hung out in ages."

"Gee, as appealing as that sounds, I'm going with no. I'm not going to the Penny to watch Ken and Barbie make out like horny teenagers." Her voice was muffled but Traci could hear the growling undertones.

Still, Traci was persistent. One needed to be if they were going to get _anywhere _with Gail Peck. "What if we go somewhere new? Pleeeeeease Gail?"

"Fine. You owe me Trace." Gail couldn't stop the niggling feeling in the pit of her stomach that told her she was going to regret giving in to Traci's demands.

* * *

><p>"Hey, what's a nice girl like you doing by yourself?" A well-dressed but clearly inebriated man had decided to attempt to charm his way into Gail's pants. Although there were no outwardly noticeable signs, he clearly had to be somewhat intoxicated to try and woo her. Gail had her best 'don't fuck with me' face on the entire night and Traci was feeling slightly guilty for pressuring her into coming out tonight. So the woman had decided to quickly use the bathroom before calling it a night. It had been mere seconds since Traci had upped and left her and this would-be Casanova had occupied her vacant seat.<p>

Gail raised a brow slightly and gave the man a once-over before rolling her eyes, internally begging Traci to hurry up in the bathroom. "Leave. Your presence is like the cherry on top of my shit sundae and I'd quite like to enjoy this tequila without you." She turned her attention back to her drink, effectively ending any further conversation.

Somehow, this was lost on the drunken man and he didn't quite seem to get the hint. He tried a different tack, "Can I buy you a drink?"

A sweaty palm had found its way onto Gail's upper thigh and was moving steadily higher, Gail could smell the alcohol on his breath. Ice blue eyes flashed dangerously as Gail grabbed his thumb and bent it back viciously with a sweet smile on her face. But before she could rip the man apart, she felt a hand on her shoulder. The blonde relaxed considerably and dropped the thumb, assuming it was Traci to her rescue.

"Hey hun, sorry I took so long." Gail's eyes widened as a strange brunette woman slid into the booth next to her. Why was this happening? She was never going out with Traci again. A long slender arm slid across her shoulders and pulled her in for brief peck on the cheek. This stranger had some nerve and Gail tried to quell the rising butterflies that had started stirring in their close proximity. "This guy bothering you? I think you'd better leave mate, this lovely lady's accounted for."

"Sorry. Fuck me, you two are hot." The drunken man mumbled some semblance of an apology and left, swaying slightly as he stumbled away. Gail shuddered, not at all sorry to see him leave. However, now she had another problem.

"I can handle myself, you know." It came out a lot snappier than Gail intended and she felt bad as soon as the words left her mouth.

If the mysterious brunette was offended, she didn't show it. Her smile only widened and made Gail's stomach flutter again. "I don't doubt it but I thought the guy would appreciate the use of his thumb in the morning."

"Nice to know you're so concerned about his well-being." Gail scoffed and rolled her eyes, trying to maintain her cool demeanour.

The brunette held her hands up in mock surrender, "Okay, you caught me. Maybe I just really wanted to talk to you?"

A single brow was raised again, "That's seriously weird. Maybe you should get some friends?"

"I have friends, they decided to take me out on my first night here. 'It'll be fun!' they said. I needed a quick break so I offered to get drinks and then managed to start to talking to an attractive woman on my travels." The woman was rambling a little and it was nothing, if not adorable. Gail couldn't help but feel torn between feeling indebted to her and pissed off that she needed rescuing.

"You know what frustrates me the most? The fact that I need to be 'accounted for' in order for him to leave." The words had left her mouth, a continuation of Gail's thoughts but completely random given the conversation.

The woman seemed unfazed by the sudden change in subject, "Oh? Maybe we should have a discussion on patriarchy and gender stereotypes in our society over a drink?"

There was a small part of Gail that really wouldn't have minded getting a drink with this woman. However, the larger part of her was screaming '_even if something did happen, it would never last'. _"Yeah, no. Too nerdy for me. Maybe your friends will appreciate it more."

"Maybe you're right, it was nice to meet you…?" The woman was disappointed, it was evident in her dark brown depths.

"Gail."

The woman waited for a beat before speaking, "You aren't gonna ask me for my name?"

"Nope, already know it." Gail smirked.

"And what's that?" Her eyes were twinkling, unsure what to expect.

"Nerd. Duh." The blonde winked. She didn't normally wink, ever. This woman was somehow managing to elicit the most un-Gail responses without even trying.

It caught the brunette off-guard and she laughed before standing to leave. Gail took in the other woman's appearance for the first time and her breath hitched. Undoubtedly gorgeous, legs forever and essentially the epitome of beauty. No heavy make-up, flash dresses or expensive wear. This woman was simply naturally and effortlessly stunning.

"Oh, hey nerd?" She turned to look back at Gail questioningly. "Uhh… thanks for earlier." It was obvious the blonde wasn't accustomed to giving gratitude so she took it in her stride and placed a lingering kiss on the blonde's cheek. "Anytime, Gail."

No sooner than the mysterious woman had disappeared, yet another person sat down opposite Gail.

"Okay, who the hell was that?" Traci demanded excitedly.

"Nice of you to finally grace me with your presence. Where were you 5 minutes ago when I needed you?" Gail shot back, understandably annoyed.

Traci shrugged her off, "She seemed like she had it covered and you were practically eye fucking her. Since when are you gay?"

"Traci. I'm not 'anything'." Gail frowned, "She's weird and interesting and I like her. She also happens to be extremely good looking. That doesn't make me gay."

She was right. Traci felt guilty, "I'm sorry, that was a dick thing to say. Wanna head out?"

Gail snorted, "Thank God, yes. You do realise that some of us beat cops have to get up in the morning?"

Traci pinched Gail's side, "Yes, and some of us detectives also have to get up in the mornings too."

* * *

><p>Dried branches snapped under heavy boots as Gail strode towards the two people standing idle in the clearing. She savoured the satisfying crunch they made underneath her, it felt good to let out her aggression on the poor forestry. Bright blue eyes surveyed the sight in front of her while her partner followed closely behind. Pine needles and twigs littered the ground and Gail huffed exasperatedly, she was not an outdoorsy person.<p>

"Alright! What's going on here?" Marlo took charge of the situation and approached the two young witnesses who were obviously in shock. They looked at the brunette officer blankly but neither elected to speak first.

"Okay, I'm Officer Cruz and this is my partner Officer Peck. Do you wanna tell me what happened here?" Marlo softened her voice and tried a different tack. Pulling out her notebook, she waved her hand and gestured for Gail to look at the scene in more detail.

"We were just messing around, I swear. I didn't mean to…" The dark haired boy took several deep shaky breaths and shook his head in disbelief. He wrapped his arm around his smaller friend protectively, the girl had leaves strewn in her mussed up hair and dried mud and tear streaks down her cheeks.

"I fell on top of it, it was so gross and omigod … and it was WET. Ughhhh it was disguuuusting …" Her ramblings trailed off as she became uncertain on how best to describe what she had just seen so she simply pointed towards a spot several metres away. Marlo felt bad for them but 'it was so gross' wasn't exactly the sort of information that would solve mysteries. She held up her hands to calm them down, "Okay, okay. Just take a deep breath and how about we start from the beginning?"

"Hey Cruz? I think I know what the problem is." Gail interrupted. She had just found the source of the two teenagers' angst. A decomposed pile of bones, face down and half concealed amongst the foliage. The mottled bones looked like they'd been there for a long time but other than that, she couldn't tell much more just by looking at them until forensics tore the place apart for evidence. Marlo came over towards her partner's location to see for herself, "Great, looks like our day just got that much more exciting. Peck, call it in and get forensics out here will you?" The blonde nodded and made the call before stepping away from the scene to give her some space with the witnesses.

Gail decided to walk back up to the squad car and wait for the cavalry to arrive. It didn't take long before a familiar car pulled up next to their own. The occupants stepped out revealing Detectives Sam Swarek and Traci Nash. "Gail, hey. What have we got here?" The darker haired woman flashed an impossibly white smile at Gail.

The blonde returned the smile with her first genuine grin of the day, "Dead body. Could be a possible homicide, that'd be exciting. We won't know anything else until forensics turn up." Sam nodded and they fell into step as they walked back down to the scene. He wasn't as familiar with Gail as he was with her brother Steve but he knew her well enough to understand her dark sense of humour. Traci, however decided to appease Gail's twisted musings. "Any severed heads there to keep you interested?"

Gail rolled her eyes and shrugged, "Unfortunately, no. That was the first thing I checked for, there's a head but it's still attached to the rest of the body. Stupid place to hide a severed head anyway." Traci chuckled and shook her head, Gail had the strangest thought patterns but she knew better than to try figure them out.

"Okay, how 'bout you stick around and brief forensics when they turn up and Nash and I will check in with Marlo." Gail nodded and watched the edge of the crime scene while Sam and Traci continued without her.

She decided to let her thoughts wander aimlessly before they somehow settled on Nick. Her ex-boyfriend was refusing to talk to her and to be perfectly honest, she wasn't all the interested in talking to him either. Well not since he'd brushed her off and left her standing in the middle of the corridor like an idiot. It increased the unresolved tension and issues between them tenfold and it hadn't gone unnoticed by anyone else in the division. Everything about the situation was infuriating her. Gail Peck was not one for being the centre of attention and she could feel people's eyes burning into her when they were being briefed at parade this morning.

"Hey Gail, are you, uh… okay?" Andy looked at her with equal parts concern and apprehension that Gail would say something cutting. There was a definite possibility of something cutting, considering Andy was possibly the last person Gail wanted to talk to.

"I have cramps, McNally. Cramps in my foot." Gail said dangerously, her eyes narrowed at the other woman. Andy nodded slowly, like one would to a rabid dog about to bite. She was used to Gail-isms but it still didn't make conversing any easier.

Thankfully, the awkwardness didn't last long. "You should go, I think Nick is waiting for you." Andy sensed the passive-aggressive undertones but she wasn't going to engage the blonde in a verbal sparring match. She knew she was in the wrong so decided to leave it for now. Gail watched the brunette walk out the door, her eyes were burning holes into the back of Andy's jacket.

"Hey Gail!" Chloe had a container of homemade muffins and thrust them under Gail's nose. "Wanna muffin before you head out? They're fresh!"

Gail took one look at them before stating coolly, "If they're not doughnuts, I'm not interested."

Chloe's face fell slightly, so the blonde rolled her eyes and took the offered muffin. "If I die, you're the first person I'm haunting. You know that right?"

She spun on her heel and took for the exit before Chloe could respond but not before glimpsing the wide smile on her features. Gail sniffed the muffin before taking a bite and immediately spat it back out, wondering who decided that putting Zucchini in perfectly good chocolate muffins was a good idea? As soon as Gail rounded the corner and out of sight, she dropped the muffin into the metal bin and sauntered outside.

Forensics had finally arrived on the scene. About damn time, Gail couldn't wait to get back to somewhere urban. Or at least somewhere with access to decent caffeine beverages. "Can I leave now?"

"We're just waiting on Doctor Stewart." One of the men stammered out, not wanting to face the intimidating woman's ire.

"Well, where the hell is this Doctor Stewart and why is he late?" The blonde demanded.

"Umm.. it's actually Doctor Stewart's first day and they're…" He bravely continued to defend the absent doctor.

"Save it, I really don't care. Just tell him to hurry up and you guys can get started." Gail watched them in their weird scrub outfits as they went about their work, taking photos and bagging items. A tall brunette woman brushed past her, swinging a red bag loosely by her side. Irritated her already shitty day was getting _that _much better, Gail called out after her, "Hey lunchbox! You're not allowed down there."

She half expected the woman to call her out on the name jibe or at the very least stop and comply with her request. However, this woman did neither. "Thanks, appreciate it." Her tone was dismissive and she continued towards the skeleton without any intention of acknowledging Gail further. Gail frowned, she wasn't used to anybody ignoring her least of all while she was in uniform. "Hey. No, I said you're not allowed down there." Her ice blue eyes were trained intently on the woman who had finally turned around. Gail's stomach plummeted, _oh shit_.

"Uh yeah, I am actually. I'm Doctor Stewart, the forensic pathologist. It seemed pretty obvious, _Officer _Gail." She smirked at Gail and looked her up and down. Evidently, the woman from last night remembered her as well.

"Oh." She felt incredibly stupid now. However there was no way she letting this woman have that satisfaction, her smug grin was already annoying enough. Gail quirked an eyebrow, "Obvious to nerds maybe. Can you come back later?"

The pathologist smirked at the reference, If the woman was taken aback by Gail's abrasiveness, she did a good job hiding it. She decided to challenge the rather attractive officer with some snark of her own, "You ought to up your medical jurisprudence. We need to determine the cause of death. I test the water for diatoms, and if we find diatoms in the bone marrow… oh, did you notice if the femur is still intact?"

Gail stopped listening, instead preferring to focus on the brunette's facial features instead. God, she had an incredible smile. Much better than that damn smug smile from before. This one quirked up on one side more than the other, showing off just the right amount of tooth. Not one of those conservative closed mouth smiles but a wide open grin that made her seem funny and genuine. Even though Gail knew the doctor was only smiling because she was making fun of her, it surprisingly didn't bother her as much as it normally would. But this pathologist really needed to stop talking, immediately.

"Why are you saying all these words." Every word was enunciated slowly and deliberately, but the brunette was undeterred, her grin only got wider and dark eyes glinted mischievously behind thick rimmed glasses. Something inside Gail involuntarily lurched under her gaze, that damn smile again.

"Alright, I need somebody to stay here and someone else to go to the morgue!" Swarek called out. "I'll stay here." Cruz looked up briefly towards Gail before going back to taking the witness' statements.

Gail shrugged, resigned. How much worse could her day get? "Alright, I'll head to the morgue. It's never too late to learn about medical jurisprudence." She deadpanned, glancing at the doctor who smirked back in return. "Hey Cruz, you're going to have to ride back with Swarek and Nash. Hurry up nerd, you're riding with me."

"Yeah, let me grab what I need and I'll meet you by the car. I'll get Jason to take the car back." She was still rummaging for leaves and dirt in plastic bags for analysis later.

"Well hurry up. Or you can sit in the back." Gail walked off without waiting for a reply, her blonde ponytail bouncing with every step.

The woman took a moment to let her eyes rake across the blonde's figure unabashedly, she was undoubtedly stunning and definitely something else. The doctor shook her head, trying to concentrate on the task at hand. She hurried to collect all the samples she needed and head towards the car, something telling her that the officer was liable to drive off without her and not think twice about it. Yep, this woman was _definitely_ something else.

"Took you long enough, nerd." A perfectly arched eyebrow indicating that she was silently judging the doctor's every movement. The officer regarded the brunette with a mixture of nonchalance and amusement, hoping she would bite.

"You can't rush the evidence. Oh, and it's Holly by the way. Holly Stewart." After setting the bag in the back seat, she settled in the front and held her hand out towards Gail.

"Nice to meet you again, nerd." Gail took the proffered hand and smirked before she started the car and pulled away from the curb. Gail knew she'd been rude and abrasive, it was 'typical Gail' as her friends liked to point out so they expected nothing less than endless sarcasm every time she opened her mouth to say something. Holly wasn't familiar with Gail's personality but instead of being offended like most people would be, she found herself fascinated and intrigued by the officer sitting next to her. It also didn't hurt that the blonde was incredibly easy on the eyes.

"So, you wanted to up your medical jurisprudence huh?"

"Oh Gosh Holly, of course! It sounds fascinating. In fact, I can't think of anything else I'd rather do." The blonde's expression was unreadable, her eyes were trained directly on the road in front but Holly was fairly sure she was being sarcastic and smiled in spite of herself. This woman was unlike anyone else she'd ever met. Gail glanced over, catching traces of Holly's smile still lingering on her lips and felt the beginnings of a smile forming on her lips in response. She quickly cleared her throat and reverted her face back to its default bored expression. She, Gail Peck, did not make people smile and yet here was this doctor not only failing to be put off by her manners but also responding with her own level of snark straight back. It was strange, but Gail decided she liked it. This woman was different and maybe she needed different right now. After all, it wasn't like the rest of her life was shaping up that well.

Gail pulled into the station and waited for Holly to get out. "Right doc, lead the way."

Holly flashed her another crooked smile, "It is literally my first day here. You're trusting me on this?" Gail rolled her eyes, but allowed herself the smallest of grins once Holly's back was turned. There was something about the way Holly smiled at her, Gail couldn't quite put her finger on it but it made her insides melt a little. It wasn't those awkwardly polite smiles that people gave her simply because they didn't know how else to respond. When Holly smiled, her whole face lit up. It made Gail oddly happy, knowing that she was the cause of such a smile. She was still confused by her insides responses to the Holly-smiles but it wasn't an unpleasant feeling so she let it slide.

* * *

><p>"I have a feeling it's going to take at least a few hours. How about you grab something to eat and come back later? I should have some results by then." Holly set to work analysing the samples she'd collected and laying bones out on her workspace.<p>

"It's fine. I'll grab something later, might as well wait for the magic to happen." Gail shrugged and casually helped herself to Holly's journals that lined the shelf behind her before settling on top of the counter to read it. The blonde lasted all of two minutes before she opened her mouth, "What are you doing down there anyway?"

It appeared the magic wasn't happening fast enough and Holly huffed good-naturedly. Gail had the patience of a five year old. "Putting together a puzzle."

"What can you tell?" Gail was actually interested in what the woman had to say. Holly knew Gail well enough by now to realise that the officer wasn't the type of person to bother initiating conversation if she had no interest in the subject or person. "I can tell he's a full grown male, probably in his early 20's. Not archaeological, and his bones are still greasy. A bit smelly, I find."

"Oh, I just thought that was you." Gail shot back coolly. Holly ignored the dig but smiled into the lens of the microscope. She continued to tell Gail what she knew, knowing the officer was going to write everything down. "We'll need to carbon date it, but I'd say he's been dead for about 10 years."

Sam and Traci walked in, breaking up the easy banter. "Any ID on the vic yet?"

"Normally it would take longer but luckily, buddy here has a metal plate in his humerus. All metal plates have a serial number."

Gail pulled out her notebook and quickly scanned what she'd written earlier, "Vic's name is Robert Robbins. He was born in 1979…"

"Robert Robbins? Been there for say, uh 10 years?" Sam interrupted, his eyes were wide.

Holly nodded, "Yeah, that'd be my estimate…"

"How did he die?"

"Don't know yet." Everyone looked at him expectantly. "Robbie Robbins. I worked this case 10 years ago when he went missing. Let's go Nash, I got a debt to collect." Sam left the lab without saying anything further. It was clear that there was something burning about this particular case but they wouldn't know until Sam had sorted out whatever debt this was.

* * *

><p>There was a peaceful tranquillity in the lab, save for the hum of the various machines but it made for a vastly different atmosphere than working the desks at the station. For once, Gail didn't mind hanging out in the labs, at least she was safe from the nosy stares from her colleagues. Gail resumed thumbing through Holly's journals until one would pique her interest for more than a minute. The titles of the articles she was flicking through had about a million syllables and all the letters in the alphabet. Was it even English? "Coronary Atherosclerosis: An analysis of an autopsy. Do you actually read this stuff?"<p>

"I wrote that stuff." Jesus. The doctor was much smarter than Gail had first thought.

"I knew you were a nerd." Gail teased.

"Your cop instincts tell you that? Nothing wrong with being a nerd anyway." Again, with the smirking. Gail's snark was rolling off the doctor's back and not riling her up in the slightest. The doctor was good, Gail would give her that.

She decided to try and one-up the doctor, "I heard that some fancy science journals are more likely to publish a paper if the title is witty and contains a colon like yours."

"I hear that's a rumour buuuuut I have no doubt some editors love that stuff. I'm impressed officer, who knew you were such an academic." It wasn't a lie either, it was the last thing Holly had expected to come out of the cop's mouth. She paused momentarily to give the cop an appreciative nod. "They make the article seem more interesting and provocative but I kinda just let my research speak for itself. How did you know that anyway?" Holly was slightly bashful talking about her research papers in front of Gail and tried to change the subject. Nothing slipped past the blonde but she let it pass just this once because the doctor's expression was just too damn cute.

"My family are … pretty well-connected. My mother made it her business to know a lot of smart or important people." Gail looked disdainful, "It's not something I really like to associate with."

Holly nodded, that was fair enough. The officer was not only stunning but intelligent and modest. Gail Peck was an enigma, and as a scientist, this was one puzzle she wanted to solve. But that would have to wait until later, she had a job to do first.

* * *

><p>"Oh woah Nellie…" Holly breathed, peering closely at the bones in front of her.<p>

Gail was by her side in an instant, brows furrowed in concern. "What's wrong Holly?"

"His left pelvic bones, his left femur and his left ribcage… This isn't deterioration, he's suffered a major impact trauma. Here, take a look." She shuffled over and invited Gail to look into the lens.

"Yeah, no. I just see bones." Holly knew full well Gail wouldn't know what she was looking at but used it as an excuse to get slightly closer to the officer. Their faces were mere inches apart and they stayed like that for a few beats until Holly broke the silence, "Well this guy was hit by a vehicle, you can tell by the consistency of the breaks. You should call Traci or Sam back, they'll want to have a look at this."

Gail was distracted by the closeness of their faces, she nodded absently not really registering Holly's words. It would be so easy to just lean over and… The doctor gave her nudge, "Cop? Go call the detectives."

"Huh? Yeah, I'll do that." Gail pulled out her phone and stepped outside, wanting to hide the blush she was sure would give her away. "Hey Trace? It's me, we found something."

After the call ended, she dropped her arm loosely at her side and leant against the wall. The coolness of the glass left goosebumps along her back and Gail welcomed the sensation, a stark contrast to the burning of her cheeks. "What the fuck is wrong with me?" The blonde tipped her head back and sighed. She was operating on autopilot, reacting to Holly's actions without any thought to her own feelings. Partially because she couldn't figure out what she was feeling but mostly because the Doctor was so intriguing, she was pulled into the Holly's gravity and had absolutely no control over her own trajectory. It was terrifying, quite frankly. To be this caught up over someone she literally only just met? Maybe she was overthinking things again. Eugh. Gail rubbed her temples and groaned in frustration before quietly padding back into the lab. She needed to give herself some space otherwise there was a good chance she'd do something that could ruin any form of relationship with this woman after this case was over.

Traci nodded before she thanked Gail and hung up, Sam was busy rifling through the papers on his desk. "That was Gail. Robbie Robbins was hit by a car that night."

"You're kidding me." He put the papers down and turned his attention fully towards Traci.

"There was major blunt force trauma to the left side of his body."

"Hit by a car though? We found him in the woods, that's like a quarter mile from any road." Sam frowned, lost in thought. "Maybe he didn't kill himself."

Traci filled in the blanks, "Maybe somebody ran him over and dragged him into the ravine."

They had reached mutual understanding. "Then I got my homicide."

It didn't take long for Sam to get back to the lab and as soon as he stepped inside the doors, he was full of questions. "Did you find any traces of codeine in his remains?"

Holly shook her head, "Not sure yet. We're doing some analyses on some strands of hair."

"Okay, right. Anything else you got?"

Holly motioned for Sam to follow her towards the table. She gestured towards a few bones in particular. "This guy has had a lifetime of broken bones, look at this one; an improperly healed orbital bone. His clavicle was broken, his humerus, both his scaphoid bones and this is from before he was fully grown." Holly was clinical in her explanation of the extent of injuries but she felt disgusted at what had happened to this boy. She really hoped they caught the guy that did this to him, she'd seen far too many cases like these and they always broke her heart.

"All by the hand of his father from the sounds of things. Any chance you can tell what kinda car hit him?" Sam was scribbling quickly into his notepad.

"You can tell from the impact here along the pelvic bone and ribcage here, that the driver was in a larger vehicle." Holly traced the length of the bones, pausing to show both officers the extent of the breaks.

Sam frowned, "What? Like a bus?"

"Mmmm more like a truck. I'll see if I can narrow it down, find some paint particles somewhere…" Holly nodded thoughtfully.

"Thanks, call me if you find anything else. You having fun there Peck?" Sam called over his shoulder, the blonde had stayed silent throughout the entire conversation.

"You told me to be here." They exchanged smiles, Sam knew she would have made a lot more fuss if she really didn't want to hang around the morgue. He knew she was only there because of Holly and he grinned because it was completely out of character for her to actually like someone straight off the bat.

* * *

><p>"Hey Peck, you know you can leave the morgue now right? We're done for the day."<p>

"Yeah, Holly and I just got back from coffee." Sam couldn't help the smirk, he tried to disguise it as best he could. "First names already, Peck? You guys move fast."

Gail blushed and tried to change the subject hastily, "Did you catch the guy?"

Sam sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "The evidence was inconclusive. We're shutting it down."

The blonde's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "But Traci said…"

"Gail. You're going to have to trust me on this okay?" Sam's eyes were imploring, he looked tired. Gail's eyes narrowed, she knew what that meant. His pick and choose approach to the rules annoyed her despite knowing it was for the right reasons. "Okay."

She turned away from him and leant back into the office chair, using her feet to kick off the desk and spin around. The day's events had taken their toll on her. 'To serve and protect', that was their motto. In cases like these, serving and protecting took on a slightly murkier definition. She felt angry at Sam and sorry for Robbie. She closed her eyes and sighed, wishing she could forget about everything. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, it was from Nick. Gail deleted the text without reading it, when she wanted to talk earlier he had brushed her off. There was no way she was agreeing to talk to him now that he was good and ready. Nick could wait. She was petty like that.

"Something tells me you must really like it in here." Holly had finished for the day and was tidying up the last of her things.

"I could live here." Gail sighed and stopped spinning.

"Holly?" She glanced everywhere but into Holly's dark brown orbs. She knew that if she did, then everything would come spilling out and she wasn't quite ready to scare Holly off yet. "I'm like a cat. I'm very good at climbing trees. And then the minute I get up there, I have no idea what to do. I wanna get down, but I don't know how to do that." She took a breath, "Sooo I create an emergency situation to get out of it."

There was a small pause as Holly took in Gail's words. "Of the tree?" She drew out uncertainly.

"Of relationships." Ah. The penny had dropped.

Despite having absolutely no idea what brought about the sudden shift in mood, Holly finally seemed to be following Gail's metaphor and nodded in sympathy, "Yeah I was like that too, until I realised I just didn't like men."

Nick briefly popped into Gail's mind and she replied automatically, "I don't like men either."

Holly laughed, surely it was obvious, "No, I mean I'm a lesbian."

Gail didn't falter in the slightest, "Oh, no. I mean I just hate people."

Holly's smile only widened, clearly amused by the response. It wasn't exactly what she'd expected, but then this blonde was breaking every one of her expectations. Gail couldn't meet Holly's eyes for much longer without bursting into laughter and not a chance she was going to let Holly see that yet so she shrugged on her jacket and left the office. Gail was renowned for her mean, sarcastic persona, it would take longer than one day for the doctor to break through her exterior. But it was obvious she already felt more comfortable with this woman than anyone else in her unit. Holly seemed to understand her ramblings and odd sense of humour that no one else got. Gail sighed and made a snap decision, opening her mouth before her brain could convince her to stop. "Hey nerd? Wanna grab a beer?"

Holly's head popped out of the office, that ever present smile lighting up her face. "Is that a direct order officer? Two drinking nights in a row, aren't we responsible?" There it was again, that weird melty feeling. Like Gail's insides were squirming around inside her of their own accord but not in a bad way. She couldn't work out how the doctor managed to do it. Gail sighed and leaned against the wall waiting for Holly to catch up. "I want alcohol. Lots of it."

* * *

><p>The atmosphere was buzzed in the bar which was exactly how Gail was feeling after her fourth drink. Or was it her fifth? She leaned back into her chair and threw her head back with uninhibited laughter. Holly seemed to have that effect on her, from her infectious smile to the way her eyes glinted with mirth behind her glasses. But that was normal right? To be drawn to this woman Gail hardly knew. Her sarcasm and bitchiness was being taken in full stride by the doctor and given straight back. The blonde was relishing being able to throw anything she could at the doctor, there were very few people with the ability to handle Gail Peck.<p>

"Sooooo Holly, dead people huh?"

"Yeah, they don't talk back." Holly smirked. She had declined Gail's offer to try and drink her under the table. The prospect of working hungover the next morning wasn't all that appealing. "No, but seriously? When I started off in med school and it was great but it just wasn't as … exciting. There was something about having the ability to tell a person's last story, to find things that they might have hidden or didn't even know. It's like uncovering a mystery, you know?"

Gail rolled her eyes, unsatisfied with the response. "You are seriously weird, lunchbox. You know that right?"

"Unsurprisingly, I did already know that. My family and friends said the exact same thing, Mom especially. She cried and threatened to cut me off if I didn't become a successful surgeon like the rest of the family. It's like a legacy or something." Holly let the words fall out, a distasteful expression on her face.

Gail nodded, intimately familiar with the concept of pushy families and the family legacy. "Sounds like my mother. The ever-delightful light in my life that she thinks knows what I need better than I do.

"Nightmare?"

"Beyond anything you could ever imagine, trust me." Gail knocked back the rest of her drink, "I don't want to talk about my mother and her warped ideas of parenthood. I want more drinks." Holly doubted they needed more alcohol but it seemed futile to argue with the blonde.

"Two Jack and cokes, Paul" Gail muttered to the bartender, "and make mine a double." Paul chuckled, he was familiar with her drinking habits and had a soft spot for the blonde. The Penny was a bit of dive bar, certainly not the classiest of bars in town but it was the main hangout for off duty Police officers. Turns out cops liked their liquor, this blonde officer especially. "On the house, Gail. You look like you could use it."

"Thanks Paul." And Gail meant it. There were perks to befriending the bartender but Paul wasn't just a free drink. Gail actually appreciated the way he never pushed, unlike the other bartenders always trying to coax the especially gory work stories out of her.

"Just don't get used to it." He grinned but he said that every time and they both knew it was a lie. Gail took both drinks and glanced over at their table.

"Thanks for the drink." Holly , "I am going to be ruined in the morning."

Gail shrugged, "I'm on an afternoon shift tomorrow."

Holly groaned again and slumped back into her chair.

"Jealous nerd?" There was that Gail smirk, complete with the single arched brow.

"You knew this was going to happen? And still led me astray?" Holly gasped in mock horror.

"What can I say? I have that effect on people." Gail was smug, it was driving Holly insane but she indulged the blonde. "You most certainly do."

"Yeah, Holly? Not a lesbian."

"Well Gail, I don't date straight women as a rule." Holly raised her eyebrows as if to challenge Gail and the blonde gulped.

"Good. Wouldn't want you to break any rules, I am an officer of the law after all." Satisfied with her response, Gail leant back in her chair. Any feelings she might have had needed to be quelled, now. Before they got too big for her to contain and she ruined their potential friendship.

Holly bit back her retort, unsure of how far she could go before Gail became too uncomfortable. Were they bordering on flirting territory? It felt like it. She scanned Gail's face for any indication that she was taking their joking too far but found none.

Gail looked at her phone, it was well past midnight. "Hey lunchbox, have you seen the time? Maybe we should head off soon?" Holly glanced down at her phone and balked. "Gail, it's 2 in the morning. I need to be at work at 8.30. And I'm pretty sure neither of us will be able to drive home. Don't even get me started on the hangover."

"Then potentially we may have to cab it." Gail wasn't fazed by Holly's panic.

"Well how do you propose I get to work in the morning?" Yep. Holly was starting to get pretty frustrated, it amused Gail a lot more than it should have but she decided to test the brunette a little more. "I dunno, you should've thought of that before you decided to drink."

"Maybe we shouldn't be drinking on work nights." Holly bit back scathingly.

"You decided to come out and witness Peck charm in full flight. Plus you're a smart doctor, so who are you really blaming here Holly?" The brunette's tone was amusing Gail, she hadn't yet witnessed anything other than cool, collected doctor. It was rather fun to meet frazzled Holly.

Holly nodded and conceded, Gail was right. And she wasn't sorry that she'd decided to drink with Gail tonight although she would reassess that once she woke up in the morning faced with a whole day of lab work. They mused for a little longer, before Gail took pity on the poor doctor. "Stay at my place then. I'll get Dov to drop you off at work and then you can grab your car after work or something."

Holly wasn't sure whether the invite was genuine or if it was the alcohol talking, "Wow Gail, inviting me to your house already? And I thought lesbians moved fast."

"Fine nerd, just for that you can sleep on the couch."

"Where else would I stay?"

Gail stared at her impassively and without missing a beat, "My bed."

Holly's stomach flipped under Gail's gaze, surely she hadn't meant that the way it sounded. They'd only just met.

Gail stood to leave, she swatted Holly's arm on the way to the door. "Not like that lunchbox. God, you are too easy."

Holly scrambled to gather her things and catch up with Gail. Final assessment; she was drunk and was probably going to sleep in the same bed as a very attractive blonde Police officer that she had just met. Holly sighed and surmised that there was very little chance she was going to get the sleep she needed to get through the following day.

* * *

><p>"Welcome to my humble abode, casa de Peckstein!" Gail pronounced proudly, stumbling through the front door with about as much grace as one would expect after enough alcohol to put a horse to sleep. Holly giggled, "Shhhhhh Gail! Dov will be asleep."<p>

"Do you want the tour or not, nerd?" Gail whined impatiently tugging at Holly's sleeve.

"How about in the morning if you're still alive." Holly smiled and poured large glasses of water for them both, "Drink this, it'll make your head _slightly _less volatile in the morning."

The blonde giggled as half the water didn't quite make it into her mouth. Holly just sighed, partly because Gail was so damn adorable but also because Gail was straight. And she wasn't going there again, ever. "Alright, champ. Now where's the bedroom? I'm going to be absolutely fucked for work in the morning, so let's get some sleep."

"Ooooh Holly, the smart and wonderful doctor has a potty mouth. So dirty, annnnd I like it."

They reached Gail's bedroom and the blonde proceeded to collapse on the bed. "Gail? You need to get changed. I'm not doing it for you."

"Why not Holly? Don't you like taking girl's clothes off?" Gail slurred innocently, before a pile of clothes landed with a soft thump on her face. "Alright, alright. I'm moving. Lesbians are so pushy." Gail grumbled and changed quickly, Holly turned away as it was clear that the blonde had no qualms about showing off her body. To be fair, from what the doctor saw briefly, the officer's body was definitely worth showing off. Holly swallowed, instead concentrating on changing into an old t-shirt she'd found on Gail's floor. It was a soft, baby blue academy t-shirt, worn and faded and it smelt like something uniquely Gail. The brunette closed her eyes for a second, briefly imagining what it would be like to come home to this every night and if Holly were being perfectly honest with herself, she was smitten. When she turned back around she found Gail staring at her, her face expressionless save for her eyes. They were focused on hers, the intensity was almost overwhelming. It seemed that the blonde also had no issue staring at other people while they changed, not that Holly minded at all. Not in the slightest. She flipped off the lights and scooted into bed beside Gail, making sure her alarm was set before she settled down under the covers.

"Hey nerd?" Gail's voice was soft, almost tickling her ear.

"Yes Gail?" The close proximity was making Holly's stomach churn.

"This was fun right?" The blonde was fiddling with the loose threads on Holly's t-shirt and certainly not helping Holly's sleepiness.

The doctor smiled into the darkness, she'd never met anyone quite like Gail Peck. "Yes, Gail. Now do me a favour and shut up okay?"


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: **So this received a better response than I originally anticipated, not that I was expecting anything. But thank you all very much for reading, following and reviewing! I'm very humbled and I took on board your feedback, it was really helpful so keep it coming :D  
>I do apologise for the lateness of this chapter, I'm aiming to update this fic each week. However, life and health constraints will impact to some degree so I do hope you forgive me.<p>

The characters aren't mine, I don't own anything. Just a poor student with crushing debt. All errors, however, are mine. Do feel free to point them out to me xox

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 2.<strong>

Holly awoke to the sound of her phone chirping on the bedside table. Obnoxious chirping that was inappropriately cheery given her current circumstances. She blindly reached out for the infernal device, barely making out the blurry digits. 7.15am. That meant she had 45 minutes to look presentable and mentally prepare herself for the day ahead. Holly briefly reviewed the status of her bodily functions: limbs moderately unresponsive, head exploding and bladder beckoning. So far, not the greatest start to her second day on the job. She groaned and internally berated herself for putting herself in this position.

Cool fingers trailed across her stomach, leaving a trail of fire in their wake. Holly froze, her eyes fluttered closed and she bit her lip trying to suppress the gasp threatening to escape. Then again, maybe this position wasn't so bad. The blonde was still fast asleep, completely unaware of the effect her hands were having on the doctor beside her. Gail looked adorable while she slept, her face was relaxed and softer making her seem uncharacteristically vulnerable. '_Stop it, you literally just moved into town and met her yesterday. Plus, she's straight and there is no way she'd ever think twice about you. If you go there, you will fuck this up. Undoubtedly.' _Her subconscious had this fantastic way of ruining great moments. Holly frowned at the sleeping woman, determined to stop the feelings from growing any larger than they were already. They had been drawn to each other from their first encounter in the bar, surely the connection hadn't only been one-sided? Holly sighed and tried not to get her hopes up. Gail had told her she was straight and Holly had to accept that. She would enjoy whatever the blonde would give her and that would be enough.

"Gail?" Holly nudged the blonde gently, trying to ease her back into reality. Gail's body stirred, proving that enough alcohol to take down a large animal was no match for her liver of steel. It was admirable really, if a little irresponsible.

"Mmmmm let me die." The blonde's face was hidden in her pillow, voice muffled and almost impossible to make out.

Holly rolled onto her side, away from Gail's wandering hands and propped herself up on one elbow. "Scale of 1 – 10?"

"About 11." The blonde remained buried deep within the crevices and clearly had no intention of moving anytime soon.

The brunette was sympathetic but couldn't resist teasing her. "Why did we decide to go out? Remind me."

"Cause I like alcohol and I like you." Well, that made sense. It made Holly deliriously happy to hear the words 'I like you' come out of Gail's mouth, even if they weren't meant in the sense that she wanted. Morning conversation was going to have to wait, the cop wasn't exactly functioning right now.

"Well I'm going to get up, meet your flatmate and maybe eat something. I'm also going to borrow a jersey so I don't give him a fright. Sound good?" A grunt and brief hand flick towards the floor was all the response the blonde was capable of. Holly pulled on an old academy hoodie that Gail had gestured to, it smelt like her and she inhaled deeply. She pointedly ignored the fact that smelling someone else's hoodie was weird and made her way through the rest of the house. It was a frat house, really. Devoid of personal touches but more than its fair share of mess that seemed to spew from every direction she looked.

"Uh, hi?" A clean shaven man with a crop of messy bed hair was reading the paper at the table. He looked at her in confusion, unsure what to make of the stranger in his kitchen. Logically speaking, if the stranger didn't belong to him, then she must have been Gail's guest. The only problem was that Gail didn't fit into most conventional equations, so who knew where she was concerned. The woman wasn't from 15 division which ruled out essentially everyone Gail would voluntarily spend time with. But the most intriguing part was the fact that she was wearing one of Gail's favourite sweaters. The blonde didn't share things lightly, if at all. So the plot thickened. However he wasn't about to complain that a tall, beautiful woman was standing in his kitchen wearing only a jersey and her underwear.

Holly straightened her glasses, she felt a little sheepish standing in front of Gail's friend in her state of undress. "Yeah, I'm really sorry about the intrusion. I'm Holly, a friend of Gail's. We went out last night and …"

The man snorted and interrupted, "Let me guess, Gail is dead to the world?"

"Something tells me that this isn't exactly new." Holly grinned and pulled out a chair.

He passed over some toast and pulled out an extra mug so she could pour herself a coffee. "She texted last night and told me she was going drinking for the second night in a row. She never does things by halves, trust me."

"I noticed. Anyway, I'm Holly. It's nice to meet you." She held out her hand for him to shake, "I'm the new forensic pathologist, just moved here last week. We bumped into each other at a homicide yesterday." Holly neglected to mention their impromptu meeting at the bar.

"I'm Dov, good to meet you too." Dov was desperately curious about this new development in Gail's social life but knew she would be extremely pissed about the intrusion. Finishing off the last of his breakfast, he brushed the crumbs off his hands and smiled warmly, "Well Holly, you're welcome here anytime. Gail doesn't really do people things, so if she did something social with you after meeting earlier that day, you must be something special."

Holly blushed at Dov's admission and it didn't go unnoticed. "This is going to sound forward, but is there any chance I can get a lift to the station?"

He dumped the dishes into the already piled sink. How could two people even produce that many dishes? "Yeah, no problem. I'm leaving in about 20 minutes, give some coffee to sleeping beauty and I'll see you at the car. Tell her she owes me."

"You're taking this quite well. You're going to give her shit about this later, aren't you?" Holly smirked.

Dov laughed, he liked this doctor a lot. "Wouldn't you?"

"Without a doubt." Holly laughed as well. It sealed the deal, Dov was smitten. If he hadn't already been taken with Chloe and was sure Gail wouldn't gut him, he would have asked her out immediately.

Holly poured a generous mug of coffee and headed back towards Gail's bedroom. "Hey there cop, got you some coffee." She brushed the few strands of hair that had fallen onto Gail's face. With much groaning, Gail finally managed to crawl into a sitting position. "My head hates me." Her voice had a husky timbre, thick from the lack of proper sleep. It was vastly different from Gail's normally silky tones and Holly wanted nothing more than to wake up to her voice every day.

"I bet your liver hates you more." Holly handed over the coffee and plopped down beside her. Gail accepted it gratefully, "Thanks for the coffee, lunchbox."

"Anytime cop." Holly picked up her clothes from last night and sniffed. She winced, the stench of booze was unmistakable. "Can I borrow some clothes and a shower?"

Gail eyed the pile on the floor with a grimace. "Cleaner stuff is probably in the drawers. I don't have any plaid though and showering is fine."

"I'm sure I can find something that will satisfy the lesbian dress code, thanks." Holly said wryly.

Gail rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and had just noticed what Holly was wearing. As well as what she was _not _wearing. There was something oddly arousing at seeing Holly in her clothes, it made the more primal parts of her scream _mine. _Her bare legs didn't hurt either, they seemed to stretch forever and possessed toned muscles indicative of a runner. Gail cleared her throat, trying to rid herself of the feelings and look at absolutely anything except the glorious expanse of Holly's body. She felt like a teenage boy. "Hurry up and get a shower, nerd. Otherwise you'll be late for work."

"Shit, you're right. Fuck!" Holly checked the time on her phone before tossing it back onto the bed. Gail could hear the swearing as Holly ran down the hall and she snickered. There was no way she could fall back asleep with the noise as people moved through the house, so she decided to drink the coffee Holly had brought her and picked up the phone that had been left on the bed. It was unlocked. '_Well doctor, how very careless of you.' _She tapped in her number and texted herself so she would have Holly's on her own before tossing it back on the bed beside her. Closing her eyes, she sipped her drink and mulled over the previous night's events. It was the most genuine fun she'd had in a long time and the dynamics of hanging out with someone who she didn't directly work with was refreshingly new. It was altogether very un-Gail like.

"Thanks for last night, Gail. I had fun." The blonde opened a lazy eye and her mouth went dry. Holly had chosen a pair of form fitting black pants and a tight shirt that accented her breasts rather nicely. She didn't even recognise the clothes as her own but those possessive feelings were back tenfold. Combined with the blinding headache and exhaustion, Gail was fighting a losing battle trying to hold back the feelings inside her body. Instead she let her eyes feast over the delicious curves of Holly's body, not caring whether the brunette noticed. The brunette in question _did_ in fact notice and it took an impossible amount of self-control to gather her things and leave the object of her desires in bed. The sexual tension between them was palpable and it seemed only a matter of time before it burst.

"No problem, nerd. Have fun at work." Gail flashed her typical smirk, albeit with dark shadows underneath tired blue eyes.

"Not gonna happen. Get some sleep Gail, you look terrible." Holly grinned, every bit as exhausted as the blonde looked. She quickly pecked Gail on the cheek before leaving and unbeknownst to Holly was a dopey smile that lit up the blonde's face.

_'What on Earth is this nerd doing to me?' _Gail drained the last of her coffee and flopped back onto her bed. She was out as soon as her head hit the pillow.

* * *

><p>Feeling a lot more refreshed after another few hours of sleep, Gail had drafted Ollie into giving her a lift to the station on his way back. "You're riding in the back though Little Peck and I gotta be honest, I'm not sure about the last time it was cleaned out."<p>

She bristled at the nickname but it was Ollie, a better male role model in her life than her own sorry excuse for a father. Just as she rounded the side of the car, he pulled open the passenger door and chuckled. "I'm kidding, rough night darlin'?"

"Yeah, my head's exploding." She leant her head against the window, the cool glass soothing her dull throbbing headache. The best part about riding with Oliver was the certainty of doughnuts and coffee, he never failed to deliver. It was a stereotypical cop car and Gail loved it.

"I'll try not to hit any pot holes then." He winked at her and true to his word, it was smoother than any other car Gail had ridden in.

After she'd stolen as many doughnuts as she could hold, Gail walked into the office and prayed that the rest of her day continued on the current trajectory.

"Hey Gail, how's things?" Traci glanced up from her work as she heard the approaching footsteps.

"Fine Trace, nothing new –" The blonde had almost managed to get to her desk unscathed. Almost. She should've known that a quiet day while working hungover was too much to ask for.

"She's made a _friend_!" Dov interjected excitedly, looking up from his own work. He had been waiting for this moment all morning and was practically bouncing in his seat.

"Really? Gail, that's great!" Traci hadn't had a chance to interrogate Gail about the new doctor. She was well aware that Doctor Holly Stewart was the same woman from the bar but didn't know that they were spending time together outside of work.

"I hate you." Gail glared at Dov. Her blue eyes were icy as they dared him to continue speaking.

"No, you don't. Because I gave her a lift to work this morning while you were sleeping." Dov shot back just as quickly. Traci had to hide her smirk, this was just getting better and better.

Gail bit her tongue, it was true after all. And she hadn't thanked him either if she remembered correctly.

"No comeback? Gail, you're losing your touch. Or maybe Holly is having a good impression on you." Dov gleefully clapped his hands together, enjoying the ribbing he could get away with. Gail cuffed him over the back of the head before sitting down at her desk. The younger man rubbed his head sheepishly, _maybe _he couldn't get away with ribbing yet.

"Alright, alright kids. Settle down and get back to work." Traci tried her hardest to look serious but Gail wasn't buying it. She was not amused by the sudden ambush on her personal life by her so-called friends.

"Hello little sister. What's this I hear about a new friend?" Typical. Steve would happen to come by at the worst time in their conversation.

"Shut up, brother. Do you actually need something, or are you here to annoy me?" The blonde muttered through gritted teeth. All the digging was beginning to get to her, the frustration evident on her features.

Steve could read her like a book and felt bad for her, "Gail, you wound me. I'm here on business though, I need some bodies to assist on a sting tonight. Briefing in 5 upstairs, okay?"

"Not a question is it." Gail raised a brow but thankful for the change in subject.

"Nope." Steve grinned. They knew each too well.

A group of officers lounged on the various chairs dotted around the room while Steve briefed them on the operation that was due to take place that night. Gail crossed her arms and looked bored throughout the entire meeting. She noted how close together Nick and Andy were without wanting to draw any further attention to themselves. The way one hand would brush the other's fingers, or how they angled their bodies towards one another. It made her blood boil with barely suppressed rage, the fucking audacity to flaunt their affection in front of her was infuriating. Steve needed to hurry up, Gail wasn't sure how much longer she could stand being in the same room as them both before she quite literally barfed.

"Okay, we got a tip from one of our guys that the diablo gang is moving a weapons shipment from the warehouses by the docks. This is going down at 11.30 tonight so Peck and McNally will be placed in the van on the east side and Price and Collins on the other side." Steve gestured to the spots on the map tacked onto the whiteboard. It was straightforward, nothing they hadn't done before.

"We've got word that these guys are getting antsy, someone messed up a deal and all the stock needs to be moved tonight so there's bound to be some new faces. We're running some surveillance first, and then we're going to move in and make some arrests. There's only one way out and we've got back up as well but be careful, they're probably more likely to shoot."

Steve took a breath, "Sound good, team?"

They all nodded their assent. Gail was less than thrilled about being partnered with Andy, but she was a Peck. That meant being nothing short of professional where her job was concerned.

"Right then. Grab some food, finish up whatever and we'll meet back here at 9pm."

* * *

><p>After several hours of boredom and mindless paperwork, the words had begun to morph into indecipherable squiggles. Gail decided to break the monotony by grabbing a quick coffee, "Cover me Epstein, I'm going on a mission."<p>

"Grab me one too!" Dov hollered after the blonde but her only response was to raise a single finger in the air without a second glance. She _did _owe him after this morning but considering his shit stirring this morning … fuck it. He could suffer a little.

"Gail, wait up!" Traci quickly caught up and flashed her friend a beaming smile. The woman had this uncanny ability to appear from nowhere and it especially occurred when Gail didn't want company. "If you're heading out for a coffee, how about we hit up the place down the road, my shout?"

Gail slowed her pace and narrowed her eyes at her friend. There was a catch, no one offered to buy Gail Peck free food unless they wanted something. It was the one thing she couldn't resist.

"Fine, let's go then. I've got like half an hour maybe?" She would play along for now. The short window of time meant that Traci would have to get straight to the point and Gail had a hunch that conversation would turn to a certain brunette doctor.

Once they'd bought their coffees, the blonde leant back into her chair and tilted her head. She regarded the woman opposite her with a cool expression, giving nothing away. Traci smiled to herself, the entire situation reminded her of the one time they played poker together. Gail cleaned everyone up and she had lost almost $100. "Anything new happening with you?"

"Apart from the sting Steve has planned for tonight, nope. Not since you asked me when I got to work earlier." The blonde was nonchalant, instead focusing on stirring an excessive amount of sugar into her coffee. The detective would have to try harder than that, and she was running out of time.

"The Superintendent set you up on any more blind dates?" Traci sipped at her coffee, eyeing Gail with an innocent expression.

"Not yet, I've successfully managed to evade interrogation for the last week. It'll probably only last till next week maybe?" Even though she knew Traci was just fishing for information, it was still nice to talk to someone. Since her falling out with Andy, she was a little lacking in the friend department.

"Ahhh, if only someone could capture the cold, dead heart of one Gail Peck." There was no doubt in Gail's mind that Traci was referring to Holly.

Gail smirked, Traci was subtle but very good. "She's just trying to make sure I don't end up a lonely spinster."

"So no one's gotten your attention lately?" The darker haired woman was direct this time, obviously getting impatient.

Fine, she'd bite. "If you're referring to Holly Stewart, then yes. We went out last night and she came over to mine afterwards."

Traci's eyes bugged out, "You slept with her already?"

"No! God, Traci. What do you think is happening? We're just friends." Gail laughed.

Traci sighed and shook her head, "Oh Gail. I saw you two at the bar, the sparks between you two could start a forest fire."

The blonde was getting tired of everyone's prodding into her life, it felt like a fucking soap opera. "We literally just met. There is _nothing _going on between Holly and I."

"Do you think there is the _slightest_ chance that you might be more than just friends?" The detective pushed one last time.

Gail hesitated for a split second before replying, "Jesus, Traci. Why the sudden investment in my non-existent social life?"

Her tone was heavily sarcastic but the slight pause was all Traci needed. Confirmation that the infamous Gail Peck did indeed have a crush on one Doctor Holly Stewart. Gail's feelings were like tiny embers and the only way they could thrive was with extreme care and patience. However, the amount of patience needed was generally more than most people had. Traci decided to take it upon herself and help Gail along by fostering the flames between them. "Maybe you should get Holly a coffee? I need some files dropped off at the lab and you're procrastinating anyway."

The thought had crossed Gail's mind earlier. If she was still feeling moderately tired, she could only imagine how Holly was feeling right now. But would randomly turning up to her lab with coffee come across as slightly weird?

"No, it wouldn't be weird. I think she'd like it, it's just coffee Gail. We get coffee together and it's not weird." The blonde frowned again, her mouth _really _needed to start consulting her brain before it started running.

"Give me your phone then, I'll text her." She reached for Gail's phone. Gail snatched it away from her grasp, her cheeks turning the slightest shade of pink. There was no way Traci was going to find 'Holly Stewart' in her contacts, the blonde had listed her as 'Doctor Lunchbox'.

In the lab, the aforementioned doctor was slowly chipping away at the seemingly endless amount of work. Her phone buzzed on the desk and Holly pounced on it, eager for any opportunity of a brief reprieve. The brunette frowned, she couldn't recall anyone called 'Captain Marvel'. When she opened the message, a smile slowly spread across her face. _Hey nerd, hope you're not feeling too shit today. Can I interest you in a coffee? I have to run some stuff down to the lab in about 15mins_

Holly quickly tapped out a reply, _By all means, Cop. I'd love a coffee, see you soon_

"Consulted the nerd. She said only if you're paying." Gail scanned Holly's reply on her phone and unconsciously smiled at the small device.

Traci smirked, pretty sure that Holly wouldn't have said that but accepted it if it meant that Gail was going to the lab. She pulled out several files from her bag and tossed them at Gail. "Just so happens that I have the files with me, so you're in luck."

She'd been had. _'Well played Nash. Very well played indeed.' _Gail grudgingly conceded defeat, she had to admire Traci's game. She thought the detective was fishing for information but it seemed that Traci was already one step ahead of her. "Oh, and say hi from me."

"Screw you too, Nash." Files in one hand and hot coffee in the other, Gail stalked out of the café with an angry scowl.

* * *

><p>"Hey nerd. I come bearing paperwork." Gail's anger had dissipated on the short walk to the forensics lab. She poked her head into the doorway of Holly's lab and saw the brunette hunched over her computer, typing furiously at the keyboard.<p>

Holly growled, "Then I highly suggest you quickly turn around and leave now." Gail froze, unsure whether her presence was welcome. Thankfully, Holly broke into a rueful grin and beckoned the cop to come in.

"Thanks for bringing me coffee. Definitely needed it." Holly accepted the beverage and took a long gulp, moaning in pleasure as the bitter liquid hit her tastebuds. Gail's insides squirmed at the sound and not for the first time that day, she had to suppress her feelings of arousal.

Once Holly had sated her thirst, she turned her attention to the cop perched on the mass of papers scattered across desk. "You know, I usually hate people sitting on my paperwork. I'll make an exception this time cause you did bring me coffee."

"But it's mostly just because I wouldn't move even if you did try and make me." Gail was smug and Holly wanted nothing more than to wipe the smirk off the cocky officer's face. The woman was absolutely incorrigible and Holly was falling even harder for the snarky blonde. "Yep, pretty much. How's tricks 'Captain'?"

"I've been put on a sting op tonight. Pretty much means McNally and I stuck in a van for a few hours." Her previously cocky smirk was replaced with dark frown. Holly guessed that there was a story between the two but knew better than to push the blonde.

"Well if you want company, you did manage to procure my number." Her tone was light and teasing, making Gail's mood improve considerably.

"Thanks nerd but I'll be fine. You should sleep anyway." Gail glanced at her watch and sighed, "I'd better get back. I'll see you later okay?"

"Hey." Holly tugged at Gail's arm and pulled the blonde in close. "Stay safe tonight cop."

Another kiss, it was almost routine now. Gail found herself tilting her cheek towards the doctor and leaning into her space. Her body was moving by instinct, it would be so easy to slip her arms around Holly's waist and press her body against the other woman. However her body's desires were conflicting with her brain screaming _'friend' _at her. The combination resulted in a strange arm spasm, followed by her whole body jerking back which Gail valiantly tried to disguise as a cough. She was the epitome of poise and grace, as per usual.

"Uh yeah, I umm will. Be safe. Thanks." _'Smooth, Gail'. _She hastily made for the door and misjudged her exit, smacking her shoulder on the frame as she left. Holly's laughter echoed down the hallway and Gail's cheeks were burning. She hadn't hit her shoulder hard enough to leave a bruise, the only damage done was to the blonde's ego.

* * *

><p>"You okay Gail?" People really needed to stop asking her that. Andy was way too chipper considering she was spending a couple of hours in a van when there were better things she could doing. Or rather, 'people' she could be doing. Gail knew she was trying to force the friendship between them but it wasn't working and the entire situation felt extremely uncomfortable.<p>

"Andy. If we're going to get through this as painlessly as possible, you're gonna have to stop talking." Gail's tone was bored and accompanied with her trademark eye roll. She didn't know what was worse; being paired with Chloe, Nick or Andy. All three were equally annoying but she admitted that Andy was probably the least irritating.

Gail pulled out her phone, tempted to text Holly but thought better of it. '_Too clingy, it's not like we're dating. Jesus, give the woman a few days.' _

The amount of mental capacity that seemed to be afforded to Holly Stewart was definitely more than Gail had given anyone else. She was slowly coming to the realisation that had Holly been a man, she would have interpreted everything that had transpired between them as romantic. The blonde had written their initial interactions off as friendliness but she was gradually accepting that she was developing feelings for this woman. And judging by Holly's behaviour, she _might_ just feel the same way.

The blonde wasn't dense by any means. On the contrary, she was extremely astute and observant, thanks to growing up under Elaine Peck's thumb. People's emotions and intentions were no exception. However, where her own feelings were concerned, Gail simply preferred to live in denial and push up walls until whoever tried to get past them gave up and left. It was easier that way. She always seemed to throw herself from the proverbial tree and sabotage relationships before they could carry out their course.

"Gail? We're on soon. Are you watching the monitors?" Andy looked concerned, there were a lot more people than Steve had anticipated. The danger level was rising rapidly as the scene unfolded on the screens in front of them. She was grateful for the distraction and focused her attention towards the task at hand.

"Peck, McNally, We're moving in 10 minutes. I want you two to block the east side of the warehouse, if anyone comes out running then you need to stop them. It'll be damn hard to get out that way so I don't think you'll get many but we've got four other guys right behind you." Steve's voice crackled over the radio.

"Copy that Steve. See you out there, Gail out." Gail was calm and confident, surveying the monitors and committing all information to memory. She remembered her first sting operation, how the adrenalin pumped through her veins and every sense seemed to heighten. It was thrilling, she lived for this feeling. The blonde wasn't afraid of danger, the action was where she excelled and she simply thrived on it.

Gail and Andy climbed out of the van and moved towards the darkened warehouse, footsteps barely making a sound across the concrete. Everything was second nature, Gail was quite literally born to do this job. As they approached the building, Gail took the lead and Andy fell behind to cover her.

"Fuck! They got Jake and the others, what the hell are we gonna do man?" The man's voice was frantic, breathing ragged.

"Shut the fuck up Ethan. You're gonna get us nicked." This voice was distinctively deeper, more mature. He sounded like the brains of the duo and the most likely one to give them hassle. Gail peered around the iron door that was left slightly ajar, the moonlight giving her just enough vision to identify the men stumbling around in the dark. There didn't seem to be any sign of anyone other than the two men and she could see that they had no visible weapons within their grasp. That didn't rule out any potential hidden weapons but Gail figured they could take them. She glanced at Andy and the brunette nodded, both agreeing to move in and arrest the men.

"Freeze! Put your hands in the air!" Gail kicked the door wide open and flicked on a flashlight, illuminating the two figures.

They both shielded their eyes, momentarily stunned by the sudden turn of events.

"I said put your hands in the air!" Gail shouted again, her gun was trained intently on the taller man who she surmised was the more dominant of the two.

"Okay, okay. I'm doing it." The man put his hands in the air and waved them at Gail to indicate his compliance. His companion followed suit, however in a much more sulky fashion. He couldn't have been more than 17, his face looked like it had barely seen a razor.

Gail slowly advanced towards the men with Andy following closely behind. She holstered her gun and pulled out a pair of cuffs for each man. When it came to the younger man, he broke down and started sobbing, "I c-c-can't do this. I can't go back there, please…"

Andy looked as torn as Gail felt. She felt sorry for the kid, he probably made some stupid mistakes and got caught up in something way over his head. Once you're in too deep, it became almost impossible to get out. Gail cuffed his skinny wrists, her heart heavy as they tightened with a metallic click around his flesh.

Gail pulled the radio out, "Steve? It's Peck, we've got two for you on the east side."

A brief pause, the static echoing in the empty warehouse before Steve's voice broke the silence. "Copy that, we'll send someone over now to pick them up. Head back to the station for debrief."

The van ride back to the station was as silent as it was on their way to the docks. Although this time it was for entirely different reasons. Both women were lost in their own thoughts, Gail was lamenting the unfortunate turn the teenager's life was now going to take in light of his arrest. She loved her job, more than anything. But arresting a kid who didn't know what the hell he was doing seemed like a really shitty thing to do. The blonde stared out the window and tried to forget about it, letting herself be lost amongst the scenery flashing past her.

"Not bad tonight little sister. I'm impressed." Steve punched her lightly in the arm but she knew he meant it. Seventeen arrests and a huge cargo of weapons seized were results of their work tonight. Steve was going to have his work cut for him but it was a sizeable achievement and he was proud of his efforts.

"Mother is going to be so proud." Gail rolled her eyes.

The older Peck smiled in spite of himself, "She's going to ask you why you haven't applied for the detective rotation, you know that right?"

Gail barked out a laugh, "Like she hasn't been bugging me about it for the past few years."

"I really think you should –"

"Save it, Steve. I'm happy where I am right now." Gail cut him off before he could start on the spiel she'd heard a million times already.

"You're right, I'm sorry. Go home, I'll see you tomorrow Gail." Steve held out his fist for her to bump and she knew it was his way of apologising. Gail couldn't help but return the gesture, he could be a jerk sometimes but always wanted what was best for her.

The blonde was lucky there were extra bodies on hand for the operation tonight and she didn't have to resort to asking Andy or Nick for a ride home. Hell, she'd even ask Chloe over either of them. She was beginning to think that maybe investing in a personal vehicle wasn't such a bad idea.

Gail crawled into bed, her body fatigued from the day's events and lack of proper sleep. The final thing her sleep-deprived brain conjured was coffee and a certain brunette doctor. She was finding it hard to come up with reasons to deny her feelings any longer. Other than her own insecurities, there really wasn't anything stopping her from pursuing Holly. _'Tomorrow. I'll think about doing something tomorrow.' _And with that final promise, Gail drifted off into peaceful slumber.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: **Again, thank you all so much for reading, reviewing and following! The cockles of my cold heart are all aflutter, haha. But no, seriously, your reviews were all awesome. Like every single one gives me a lot of encouragement, so cheers to you guys. Hope you enjoy this next one, not 100% satisfied but I'm steadily finding my groove :)

(As a side note, in Ep9 when Gail jumps on Chris, can anyone let me know what she calls him? My listening skills are shoddy at best, haha).

The characters aren't mine, I don't own anything. Just a poor student with crushing debt. All errors, however, are mine. Do feel free to point them out to me xox

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3.<strong>

"Blah, blah, blah, Giiiiiiiiiingeeeeeer…" The chatter in the room slowly died down as a few sheepish faces refocused their attention on Oliver. No one was all that invested in their work today, it was Frank and Noelle's wedding tonight and most of the division were expected to be there.

"Okay, so I kinda feel like the guy from that comic strip. I'm just standing up here yapping but all you're hearing is ginger. Yes, the wedding is at 6. Lay low, take it easy, get home by 4 and get your hair done. Thank you for your attention." The last part came across heavily sarcastic. All that was missing was an eye roll and one could be mistaken for thinking it was Gail at the front instead of Ollie. The man looked about enthused by the prospect of the wedding as the blonde was.

Gail would've taken desk duty and stakeouts with Andy for a month if it meant she could avoid going to this damn wedding. As if the necessity to interact with people she didn't like wasn't bad enough, it also served as a painful reminder to her mother that she was still crushingly single and thus prompted a series of awful blind dates that she was required to attend. Luckily, on this particular occasion her mother was out of town for a conference and her father wouldn't be going either so hopefully she could evade capture for an extra week. However, Andy and Nick were going to be there and Gail wasn't sure she could stop herself from stabbing someone with a broken champagne flute if she had to witness them being couple-y.

"Assignments are on the board, Peck. Hop to it." Ollie rapped the desk in front of Gail. She rolled her eyes and dragged herself out of parade. Chloe was hovering by the door with equal parts anxiousness and enthusiasm on her face, and since no one else was around, Gail assumed they were partnered together for the day.

"No awful muffins this morning?" She deadpanned, by way of greeting.

The smaller woman flushed a bright pink, "No, I'm sorry Gail. The uhh, lights were out at my place this morning, couldn't really bake anything."

Gail narrowed her eyes, Chloe was acting stranger than usual. "Huh. The importance of working lightbulbs … during the daytime. Must have been difficult for you to deal with."

To fill the awkward lull in their conversation, Chloe turned to wedding talk instead. Her enthusiasm for large social events was unparalleled, even compared to Andy. "So do you know uh, what you're gonna wear tonight? Cause I was thinking –"

"I hate big weddings. It's supposed to be a celebration between two people but really, everyone's so concerned about what they're wearing and who they're going with… I think it's the fakest thing in the world." Gail was so disinterested, they could've been talking about the weather for all she cared. Once upon a time, Gail had considered getting married but if she were perfectly honest, it wasn't out of love or affection for Nick. It was more a duty, something that was expected from her and quite frankly, as her mother phrased it, "you aren't going to do much better, dear." Suffice to say, she was disillusioned by the concept of weddings, they were considered more like business associations for the purposes of status and power. Hardly surprising, her mother _was_ oddly reminiscent of Henry VIII.

"I'll take that as a no. Uhh, so, are you going with anybody?" The brunette didn't seem to grasp how Gail couldn't care less about the current topic of conversation.

"Oh, you mean am I going with Nick? No, we broke up. Don't act like you didn't know that." Gail rolled her eyes, if this was a prelude to the rest of her shift then it was going to be utterly hellish.

"I wasn't, I just wanted to say I'm sorry." Her smile was so earnest it made bile rise at the back of Gail's throat.

"Oh you must be like totally broken up about it Chloe. I mean gee, golly gosh, what a shame right?" Gail's voice was falsely sweet but her icy gaze was telling the younger woman to stop talking, preferably immediately.

As soon as Chloe's mouth opened again for the umpteenth time, Gail knew an intervention was in order. "Okay, you know what? I'm gonna take that back, cause I think there is something faker than a big wedding. It's you."

The small brunette stopped in her tracks, unsure how to respond. But just to drill the point home a little further, "Chloe Price, it's you."

"I got it Gail." Chloe sighed, used to the insults she knew, or hoped, weren't meant with malice.

"You're faker than the big wedding, Chloe."

They drove out of the parking lot and Gail knew that Chloe's quietness would be short-lived. She wasn't a friendly person and she was aware of how much harsher she was to the brunette than to most others in the division but honestly, Gail didn't care. All she really wanted was to do her job in relative peace and there was something about Chloe's personality that irritated the shit out of her. Hopefully their earlier conversation was enough to put her off, but knowing Chloe, it wouldn't be. Especially seeing as she was one of Noelle's bridesmaids, she was invested in the upcoming nuptials. The blonde had been asked if she wanted to be involved, but the thought of having to spend more time with Andy and Chloe than was necessary quickly turned her against the idea. Noelle had given her a sympathetic smile, the older woman was well-used to her unique personality and wasn't expecting any input from the blonde.

* * *

><p>It was two hours into their shift and things were looking up. Chloe had said scarcely more than a few sentences the entire ride, a first for the woman. Gail side-eyed her and furrowed her brows, observing the other woman. The brunette was hiding something. Very few people had intuition like Gail, it wasn't something that could be taught. It was one of the few things about her that her mother praised and the single thing that she would always have over Steve.<p>

And never one to shy away from potential conflict, "You're hiding something, Price."

"No idea what you're talking about Gail, why would I have to hide anything?" Chloe faltered for no more than a second but covered it up with her trademark bubbliness. Too easy. Gail smirked, making a mental note to invite her to their next poker night.

"You're sleeping with Dov." It was a statement, not a question. The blonde carefully monitored Chloe's face for any changes and was _almost_ impressed when the brunette remained impassive.

"I think you should tell Frank tonight. It _is _a night of celebrations after all." Gail continued in an off-handed manner, waiting for her to fill in the blanks.

It didn't take long. "Okay! You're right, Gail. Please don't tell Frank, I've been trying to get Dov to say something but he won't. It's driving me insane." Chloe rambled, but unlike when a certain pathologist rambled, Gail didn't find it cute or endearing.

"15-03, get back to the station, we've got an armed robbery and a busload of elderly people to interview." The timing could not have been better. Had the conversation continued, Chloe might begin to think that Gail actually cared.

"This is 15-03, copy that. We're on our way."

"How's my favourite rookie? Coffee?" Ollie handed over an extra mug of coffee. Gail allowed a small smile to grace her lips when she noted 'dad' scrawled on the side. After her first mug had smashed, Ollie had spent weeks tracking down a new one while her own father had been disappointed but didn't think it was a big deal. The new mug was now her favourite possession at work. It wasn't that Gail didn't like her father, he was nice enough, if a bit aloof. She just wished he acted more like a father and cared more, but she had Oliver Shaw and he was doing a pretty good job.

"Thanks Ollie. What's the deal?" She sipped the caffeine, savouring the overly sweetened drink.

The older man sighed, stress lines evident on his face. "We've got about 30 witnesses to interview before the wedding, so we need all the bodies we can get."

"I'm not going Ollie." Gail frowned, she was fairly adamant about not going to the wedding.

"Peck, if I have to go, then you are too. You and I are a team." Oh. Gail finally made the connection, Ollie's ex was going to be at the wedding with her new beau. It was an eerily similar situation that parodied her own. How could she say no? He needed moral support, just like she did. Maybe they could get drunk together.

"Fine." The blonde caved, he knew she would. But that didn't mean she couldn't act like a sulky petulant child about it.

* * *

><p>"Here, two earl greys with milk." Gail handed over two cups of tea to the elderly couple she was about to interview.<p>

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm suddenly so shaky." The woman was apologetic, struggling to hold the beverage with shaking hands.

"You're in shock. You were robbed at gunpoint, you watched two of your friends get beaten up, and now you're in a police station." Gail frowned, it seemed obvious. "Plus you're old." The blonde added as an afterthought.

"Well, when you put it like that…" The older woman was slightly taken aback, not used to Gail's personality. Although, to be fair, not many people were.

"Right…" It came out more as a sigh, she hated interviewing old people. At least this couple seemed more fun than the others. "Walter, Constance. I take it you two are married."

"Hell no. We're uhh, what do you call it..? Dinner friends…" Walter was quick to set the record straight, as if the idea of being married to Constance was crazy.

Apparently, Constance agreed with the sentiments. "Frenemies, you idiot. We've hated each other 40 years now." She corrected him with an eye roll. Gail re-evaluated her initial assumptions about this duo, unlike most crotchety elderly couples, these two were a lot more … _Gail_-like, for lack of a better word. She took down their statement, a slight quirking at the edges of her lips. One day, maybe she and Holly could have this type of banter. And no, she firmly told herself, it was _not _too early to start thinking about their future, they could be dinner frenemies, if nothing else.

"Okay, thank you for your statements. I'm going to show you guys to the lounge and I'll get back to you if we need anything else." She finished scribbling down some notes and stood up to show them out.

"Not a problem, officer." Constance tugged on Walter's sleeve, "Let's go, Bucko."

They were all called into the large meeting room to see how the case was progressing. So far, they had established that an armed man had posed as a driver and robbed the occupants before beating two men up and escaping. It was a relatively clean act, forensics hadn't turned anything up yet either. Nothing had gone amiss; it was far too clean for Gail's liking.

"It _is_ the perfect crime, you'd need intel to know when and where it was happening. It was an inside job." Nick had pieced their brainstorming together.

That made sense, Gail had come to the same conclusion herself. But naturally, she was going to sneer at and roll her eyes anything that came out of Nick's mouth. She watched as Andy emphatically nodded her head at Nick's stunning police work. _'Like wow, Nick! You're totally, like smart. Fuck you, Andy.' _

"Alright people, I want an inventory of what was stolen. Then we'll go back and see if we can find any inconsistencies." Oliver called the meeting to a close. It was drawing closer and closer to the wedding and they needed to make headway on this case, fast.

Gail found her favourite elderly duo playing chess in the lounge, the blonde watched them for a moment as Constance decimated Walter in about ten moves. The older man threw his glasses onto the table and chuckled, "She beats me every time. You'd think after playing her for a good 30 years, I'd get a little further than this."

"You'd think after 30 years she'd get bored of winning and let you win once in a while." Gail grinned. She beckoned them to follow her and brought them back for more questioning. "So Constance, could you tell me what belongings were stolen?"

"My watch, my phone, my diamond ear studs… He even took my wedding rings." Constance counted each item off, looking increasingly forlorn at mention of her missing belongings.

Luckily, Walter decided to pipe in, "Three rings. Three marriages. She wore a white dress every time like she was fooling anyone."

That seemed to lighten the mood considerably. "At least I've been married, unlike bachelor of the year over here. You're a lucky girl, you still have that special day ahead of you. Big party, friends, family…" Constance winked conspiratorially, forgetting that she was talking to _Gail Peck_ of all people.

"Annulment, divorce, being dumped at the altar and public embarrassment." In true Gail-fashion, she tilted her head towards Nick, her words laced heavily passive aggressive undertones. "Yeah, it sounds pretty heavenly."

"Now you? I like." Walter leant back in his chair and grinned approvingly as he appraised her. Gail held his gaze for a moment and smiled, she was fond of the cynical man. They were made from the same mould.

* * *

><p>True to their suspicions, one of the witness' had organised the whole robbery to pay for his wife's care. And who had been tasked with finding Jameson Ward? Andy and Nick were most likely going to miss the wedding ceremony. Andy was gutted, her face dropped when she realised that she had to continue working while everyone else went home and glammed up for tonight's gathering. Most people would feel sympathetic to Andy's plight, however, Gail was not most people.<p>

"Okay folks, you are free to go. Transportation has been arranged and there are cars waiting for you outside." Gail announced to the roomful of witnesses, who were relieved they could finally leave.

"That's great. So, I uh, guess you know who did it huh?" Walter asked.

"Of course they know who did it, you idiot. That's why we're going home." Constance's whole tone screamed _duh. _

"I'm just asking." Walter grumbled, rolling his eyes. He gathered his jacket and gave Gail a friendly smile and nod as he walked out of the lounge. Constance held back for a second and gave Gail a knowing smirk.

"What." A speech was coming, Gail could feel it. She crossed her arms and tried to look unimpressed.

Constance raised a brow, as if she saw right through Gail's exterior. "You are _too _young to be this cynical. Find a friend, have a little fun once in a while."

"Oh, you mean like Walter? You two hate each other." Gail scoffed.

"I don't hate him, he's my plus one. Trust me sweetheart, life's way too long to go through it alone." The older woman smiled knowingly, a lifetime of experience with Walter had taught her how to deal with stubborn, sarcastic people.

Gail smiled, resembling more of a grimace than anything else but admitted that Constance may have had a point. It was more fun having someone around who would appreciate her condescending remarks at people she hated. Naturally, Holly sprung to mind immediately. But since her decision to do something about her feelings for the doctor, the only progress she'd made was to sporadically text her over the past week. A series of _Hey, how's it going? _followed by awkward small talk was the extent of Gail's 'flirting'. The blonde was beginning to realise how difficult it was to pick up females, she hadn't mastered the balance between friendliness and make-out-with-me-ness. Would it be too forward to ask her to go to a wedding with her? Gail toyed with her phone, running her fingers lightly over the screen as she weighed up her options. Fuck it, she was a Peck.

"Hey, it's me."

"I figured, your name came up on my display." Gail could tell Holly was laughing at her through the breathy chuckles on the other end.

Luckily, she couldn't see how Gail's cheeks had become tinged with pink. "Okay, smartass. I wanted to know if you were busy tonight."

"Depends. I have a lot of offers, my company is in pretty high demand during weekends. What'd you have in mind?"

"I need a plus one for Frank and Noelle's wedding tonight, you in? There's an open bar…"

Holly was quick to agree. "Sure! Free booze, I'm always in. Sounds better than what I had planned anyway."

"Which was?"

"Watching terrible TV and writing a paper."

Gail rolled her eyes at Holly's nerdiness. "Of course that's what you had planned… It's at that fancy hotel on Victoria. I'll meet you by the bar at 5.30?"

"Okay cop, it's a date."

Gail's insides lurched at the word 'date' but she knew Holly didn't mean it like _that._ But now she had finally gathered enough guts to ask Holly out, a more pressing problem presented itself. What the hell was she going to wear?

* * *

><p>Several dresses and copious amounts of swearing later, Gail had arrived at the hotel. Whilst she was fashionably late, knowing Holly's nerd-ish tendencies, the brunette was probably early. The blonde stood outside the entrance for a moment, mentally composing herself before having to commit to a night of alcohol, obligatory socialisation and Holly Stewart. Her insides were squirming; this night would either go spectacularly well, or so horrifyingly awful that she would potentially move divisions to avoid the doctor. Gail closed her eyes and took one final breath and when she opened them, she was in full-on Peck mode.<p>

"May I take your coat?" The brunette glanced up from her novel, her crooked grin appearing as she took in the blonde beauty that stood before her. Gail's mouth dried up and she was at a complete loss for words. So much for Peck mode. Holly was wearing a loose shirt, not unlike the one she'd been wearing when they first met, and several of the top buttons were left undone. Everything fit in all the right places and left nothing to the imagination. How she managed to look so effortlessly stunning in the hour or so since Gail had called was anyone's guess. _'Play it cool Peck, say hi. Or at least fucking say something.'_

"I thought we were meeting at the bar?" This was the opposite of playing it cool.

If Holly noticed, or even cared, she didn't show it. She put the book away and gave Gail another easy grin. "Coat check girl hasn't shown up, figured I'd wait for you here, hang a few coats…"

"Well how very weird of you." Gail's nerves had lessened somewhat and her sarcastic wit was coming back.

Holly grinned smugly and took the coat, the jibes rolling off her. "I've made 20 bucks, make that $22. In the jar please."

Gail took the proffered slip of paper and tucked it into her clutch for safekeeping.

"Tip?"

"I only have a $5." The brunette merely raised her eyebrows and held out her hand.

"Wow." The blonde's brows knitted together in disbelief, she couldn't believe the nerve of the brunette. "You know what? I hate these things, everyone is milling around and they're laughing caring…"

"I know, it's awful. I usually dodge this stuff but you needed a last minute plus one and I am all about growing these days. So… Macarena?" Holly pulled her glasses off and gave a fantastic Macarena impression. She waltzed out of the closet, leaving a slightly gaping Gail behind her.

The blonde sighed, she needed alcohol immediately. "Let's just get this over with."

* * *

><p>"Come on! Everyone, come join us." Frank and Noelle had finished their first dance, both glowing with sheer happiness. It was heart-warming and not a single person in the room felt anything other than joy towards the newlyweds.<p>

"Wanna dance cop?" Holly grinned and held out her hand, waving it in front of Gail's face. She tried to sway her hips in a sultry manner before she couldn't hold a straight face any longer and burst into laughter. Gail couldn't help but follow suit, the woman was adorable.

"Eugh, no. Holly, I don't do dancing." The blonde berated herself as soon as the words left her mouth. This was all prime opportunity to a) get close to Holly and b) tell the aforementioned doctor that she had feelings for her. But everything her body was doing was the exact opposite of what her brain was telling it to do. Gail was seriously beginning to consider if she was in some way defective, surely these things didn't happen to normal people.

A dapper older gentleman tapped Holly on the shoulder, "Well Miss, if it's a dance you're after, then perhaps I could have this one?"

The brunette winked at Gail and gave her a cheeky smirk before turning to the gentleman, "Of course! I'd love to." Holly mused that in order to get Gail to do _anything, _she needed to be prompted. The blonde was slow to act but very quick to react. And as a scientist, Holly needed to test her hypothesis through trial and error. Starting with the elderly gent, the doctor hoped it wouldn't take the blonde too long to make a move.

After a few songs, his wrinkled hands were drifting subtly lower, until they rested on top of Holly's firm cheeks. The brunette was slightly concerned that her plan had gone awry and now her rear was being subjected to a thorough examination. Maybe she needed to reconsider her initial conclusions, it seemed the blonde wouldn't be making a move after all. Holly was slightly disappointed, doubts were beginning to creep in and she wondered whether her feelings for the cop were one-sided after all.

'_You smooth Motherfucker.' _More than a few glasses of wine had been consumed in the meantime and Gail was fuming, the green-eyed monster had reared its ugly head. She was frustrated that she couldn't articulate what she wanted and was now reduced to watching a sleazy man grope the object of her affections. Her eyes hadn't left the pair once but the touching was the last straw. It propelled her into action. She slammed the empty flute onto the table with more force than necessary and yanked the man's shoulder until he faced her. "Hey, do you mind if I cut in? She's my date."

The gent was clearly disappointed but nodded, "Of course, you ladies have a nice night."

"My rescuer at last, did they run out of wine?" Holly rolled her eyes, relieved to finally end the awkward dance with the unknown geriatric. It had taken well over five agonisingly long minutes for Gail to finally do something, Holly briefly wondered how long it would have taken her to work up the courage and do something had she not accepted the man's offer to dance. The brunette's arms settled comfortably around Gail's waist and pulled her in close, like it was the most natural thing in the world. She felt her heart thrum excitedly at the close contact and her hopes were renewed that maybe there were indeed sparks between them. However, something felt off with the smaller blonde.

"Relax Gail, you're too stiff. You really don't dance, do you?" Holly's chuckling was breathy against the blonde's ear but Gail could barely hear anything over the pounding of her blood rushing through her body. Contrary to what Holly thought, Gail could dance rather well, even as drunk as she was. She was finally where she wanted to be from the beginning but she just wasn't enjoying herself. The blonde was angry at her inability to relax and just savour this moment with Holly. She couldn't quite silence the nagging voice in the back of her mind that reminded her they were in full view of everyone in the division. Her blue eyes darted nervously about the room, wary of any hushed whispers or stares that might be directed towards them.

"Cop? Just look at me, forget about everyone else. If anything, it'll piss this McNally person off if they see you happy." Somehow, Holly knew exactly what to say and for now, the demons were at bay. She felt the tension leave Gail's body and her grip relax around her shoulders. Gail closed her eyes and exhaled shakily, gathering the courage to be brave for once. She tentatively leant her head on Holly's shoulder and nestled her face in the crook of the taller woman's neck. Neither of them dared to breathe for the moments that followed, both trying to gauge the other's reaction. After a while, the need for oxygen overtook them and they spluttered with laughter, gasping for breath.

"I like this, lunchbox. It's nice." Gail was completely at ease. Everything; Holly, dancing and the brunette's strong arms around her, felt fucking amazing.

"Me too, cop." Holly rested her cheek on top of Gail's head, she closed her eyes and smiled. Bliss.

They didn't do much in terms of actual dancing, instead swaying to the gentle beats of the music but it didn't bother either of them. Both women were content to finally enjoy a close intimacy, regardless of who was watching. This feeling; the exciting fluttering in her abdomen, the sparks at every contact point between their bodies or the irrational pounding of her heart. All of it. Gail couldn't remember the last time she felt so alive.

Meanwhile, Traci had the food table covered. She had finished her duties as maid of honour and was relieved that, despite the early speed-bumps, the wedding had gone off without a hitch. Now she could enjoy unnecessarily large amounts of wine and dessert until her stomach felt bloated and her dress strained. Every morsel had been sampled, numerous times just to make sure, and ranked in order of deliciousness. She turned around to find Gail, knowing the blonde would appreciate her efforts.

Instead, the elder Peck had found her. Traci smiled at Steve, "To what do I owe the pleasure, Detective Peck? Do you know where Gail is?"

"Yeah, she's dancing. Care to enlighten me, Detective Nash?" Steve pointed towards the dance floor with an amused smirk on his face.

Traci's eyes widened in shock and her mouth dropped open, forming a gaping O. The darker haired woman could barely contain her excitement, maybe Gail didn't need her help after all. "Holly is the new pathologist in the lab. Gail likes her and I'm really hoping they hit it off."

"Okay." Steve shrugged and accepted it without question, his easy-going smile still in place. He knew his sister and what she needed, and right now that was space. She would tell him when she was ready and for now he would make sure that they had the privacy to work out their feelings.

"Look at Gail! She's totally into that woman, like who knew Gail was into girls. I once had a –"

It seemed his brotherly duties were starting with Chloe Price. "Listen to me very closely Price. You are not under any circumstances to speak of this to Gail or anyone else. Gail's life is not for discussion and if I hear anything, I will personally make sure you get desk duty for the foreseeable future." Steve's smile was both perfect and dangerous, a Peck specialty. It reminded Chloe of a shark and she nodded politely before making a beeline in the opposite direction.

"Okay, wow. Now I know where Gail gets it from." Traci held up her hands in mock surrender and grinned widely.

Steve returned the smile, "Nope, thank the Superintendent for that one. Drilled into us since birth, and I'm pretty sure that was Gail's go-to face for every school picture. I could never get mine as good as hers."

They glanced back to see if Gail and Holly were still dancing but it looked like the blonde had had enough for one night. They watched her in amusement as she pilfered a bottle of wine and some glasses while dragging the taller pathologist into the coat check closet.

"I bet you 20 bucks they start making out in there."

"Steve!" Traci punched him lightly in the chest. "Besides, that's not fair, we both know they're totally gonna hook up in there."

* * *

><p>"This is way better than being out there dancing." They collapsed on the floor of the coat closet, their backs resting against the wall.<p>

Holly lolled her head towards the blonde and gave her a crooked grin. "I know right? Enough growing for me for one night"

"You killed it out there, everyone loved you." Gail complained, not that she was all that upset really. She was rather pleased at how well Holly seemed to mesh with everyone.

The doctor grinned and shrugged, "Why wouldn't they?"

"Jesus! Watch the cockiness, nerd." The blonde generously filled both wine glasses and offered one to the brunette. They clinked the flutes together and Gail pulled on a fur coat that had fallen of the hanger next to her.

"Look who's cocky now? _Captain Marvel._" Holly drew air quotes around the name and poked Gail in the ribs. "What's the deal with that anyway? Never figured you for a, dare I say it, _nerd_."

"Google it. Look for the hot blonde cop turned superhero. Then we'll talk." Gail took a long gulp, draining the rest of her wine. Holly nodded, mentally filing away the knowledge for later use. They were content to simply share the wine and enjoy each other's company.

"So is it still fun getting dressed?" Gail broke the silence, still dumbfounded at how long it had taken her to get dressed compared to how easy Holly made everything look.

Holly scrunched her eyebrows together, not following the blonde's thought process. "What do you mean?"

"Well that's the most fun part of a date, getting dressed. I mean how does it work with two girls?" The blonde continued to ramble along her current line of thought, oblivious to Holly's reaction.

"I dunno, how does it work with a guy?" The brunette stifled a chuckle, sometimes straight girls were absurd and on this account, it seemed Gail was no exception.

"I guess if you're living together, he gets dressed first and then you… get… dressed." Gail finally realised the ridiculousness of the question and came to a profound conclusion, "It's stupid."

"Yeah." No arguments there.

"So is it okay to borrow each other's things?" Gail blundered forward again, still intrigued at the intricacies of lesbian relationships.

Holly cocked her brow and smirked, "I wouldn't borrow any of your things –"

"– please, you already did." Gail cut in with a triumphant grin.

"Voluntarily! You didn't let me finish. I didn't really have a choice." Holly laughed at the smaller blonde. Everything that was happening right now was perfect, the blonde sitting beside her, especially.

"Ohhhhh…" The word was drawn out and mocking, the blonde twirled her glass around as she reeled off the snark that came so naturally. "What's wrong with my things Holly? Not enough fleece for you? Not enough backpack?"

Holly didn't know if it was the alcohol, the atmosphere or some combination of the two. All she knew was that she liked Gail and if her powers of deduction were correct, then the blonde cop liked her back. Given how long it had taken her to start dancing, Holly could only imagine how long an actual kiss would take. And the doctor had no intention of waiting for that long. She leant in slowly giving Gail every opportunity to back away if she wanted but the blonde remained still. Their lips connected and it was better than anything she could have imagined. They were soft and supple and tasted like fucking heaven. Fireworks were exploding across every part of Holly's body, arousal spiking in her stomach and quickly travelling south. After the initial surprise had worn off, Holly felt Gail's mouth respond, slowly at first and then suddenly all at once, like she couldn't believe this was happening. Her hands cupped the blonde's face and she felt a small moan emanate from the back of Gail's throat, only serving to amplify the feelings tenfold. Every part of Holly's body was begging her to take more but she fought the urges down. She needed to do this slowly. Holly's tongue flicked across Gail's one last time and she regretfully drew back from the blonde. "You're insane. You know that right?"

Gail was dazed, her mouth still slightly open from their previous actions. "Wait, where are you going?"

"Dancing. I feel like dancing, like I gotta get it out of my system, you know? Thanks for the invite though, plus one forever." She held up the half-empty bottle of champagne and waved it slightly. The truth was, Holly was dizzyingly intoxicated on a simple kiss with the blonde, and she wasn't sure she could stay in the same area as Gail without every nerve ending combusting. She was exhilarated, like she could run a marathon right then and there. The energy coursing through her veins was better spent dancing than with pent up frustration in the company of a very attractive blonde.

"Let me know when you get home so I know you haven't died. I'll see you later cop." Holly leant down and tilted Gail's chin up. Instead of kissing her on the cheek like she had on all other occasions, this time she dared to kiss her lightly on the lips before taking her leave.

The blonde in question was left sitting at the back of the coat check closet, stunned after having received what was arguably the best kiss of her life. There was absolutely no way that kiss could be interpreted any other way than '_I want you'. _And just like that, Gail could no longer deny that she was undoubtedly falling for one, Holly Stewart. Rules and promises to herself, be damned. There was no longer a possibility of just being friends with Holly; Gail wanted more but unfortunately, she had absolutely no fucking clue what she was going to do about it.

* * *

><p>How long Gail had sat in the cloak room was anybody's guess. Time seemed to lose all significance, all she could think about was the sensation of Holly's lips on her own. She knew eventually that they would have to address the tension between them and Gail was running potential speeches through her inner dialogue.<p>

_'"Hey Holly, so I was going to ask you out and see if you liked me… seems preeeetty clear that you do…" No. That sounds stupid. "So I kinda like kissing you…" Fuck.' _Why did she have to make everything so bloody complicated? Nothing was ever simple. Everything up until this point was about Gail trying to convey her feelings towards the doctor. But now, it was clear that the feelings were mutual and where the hell was Gail supposed to go from here? The blonde wasn't sure she could manage a _date _with the brunette, considering she couldn't even sort herself out for a party with other people involved. Gail groaned, she wasn't cut out for relationships.

"Hey! That's my jacket, what the hell are you doing with it?" An older woman was glaring at Gail. The blonde was embarrassed, caught unawares by the actual owner of the expensive fur coat. What also didn't help was sitting on the floor of the coat closet accompanied by empty wine glasses. It was potentially not the most flattering picture.

"Fuck." Excellent, impress the infuriated older woman with her extensive vocabulary skills. "I'm really sorry, I must've gotten it confused with mine. It's a very nice jacket. If you'll ahh, excuse me, I really need to be somewhere…" She thrust the jacket into the woman's arms and briskly walked out of the closet before the woman could say anything else. The irony of coming out of the closet after having just kissed another woman for the first time was not lost on Gail and she took to the bar as quickly as her heels would allow.

"Tequila, now." The bartender must have noticed the slightly deranged look in Gail's eyes or the flushing of her cheeks. Either way, he knew better than to try and engage her in conversation and put two shots in front of her. Gail nodded appreciatively and knocked them back before signalling for more.

"Woah there, darlin'. Don't you think you should go a little easier?" Oliver slid onto the seat next to her.

"No, Ollie. I think I'm big enough to regulate my own alcohol intake now." She knocked the next one back just as quickly and savoured the slight burn as it hit her throat.

"Fair enough, where'd your friend go?" Oliver knew better than to argue and changed the subject.

"She left, dancing I think. Where's yours?"

"Bathroom, thought we might head off after that. You want a lift home rook?"

"Yeah, thanks Ollie."

"On one condition though. You gotta have one dance with me before you go." He smiled widely at the look of horror on Gail's face.

"Ollie, no –" But he dragged her to her feet and led her toward the dance floor. He gave Celery a thumbs up and she just smiled, having heard of Gail's reputation as a 'bitch'. She knew it was all a front. While she was initially uncomfortable about being in the same vicinity as her date's ex-partner, Celery had no such qualms at watching Oliver swing the smaller blonde around. After the initial reluctance, Gail had resigned herself to at least one song and was laughing while Ollie twirled her. A final dip as the song ended and the older man smirked, "I could just let go now, Peck."

"Oliver, don't you – ahh!" Oliver let his arms slacken for second and Gail's body dropped about 20 centimetres before he pulled her back to her feet. She thumped him in the chest, while he laughed at her and then she joined in as well. His jovial mood was always infectious, never ceasing to make Gail feel better.

"Alright, time to get my favourite ladies home." He gave Celery a quick kiss on her cheek before taking her hand and leading them towards the front door. Gail collected her actual jacket this time and quickly thanked Frank and Noelle for the wonderful evening.

* * *

><p>There was no sign of Dov as she opened the door to the darkened flat. He was probably at Chloe's place having annoyingly loud sex. Gail stood in the bathroom and methodically removed her makeup, undressed and stepped into the piping hot shower. The routine was helping her contain her spiralling thoughts. They were spewing in all directions and Gail couldn't keep a coherent train of thought. She rested her head against the wall and groaned. If this was the effect Holly had on her, she could only imagine what would happen in the long run. Just the mere thought of the doctor made her abdomen flip. And that kiss … Gail stiffened. She frowned as she hesitantly dipped a single finger in her folds. <em>'Ohhhhhh. That is a lot of wetness. You're fucked, Peck.'<em>

Did this mean she was gay the entire time? It's not like she was _that _attracted to Chris or Nick. But the lack of attraction didn't mean anything. Maybe she was just attracted to Holly? Labels had never bothered her before but Gail couldn't help but wonder what her mother would say once she found out. The subject of LGBT anything had never come up in the Peck household so Gail had no idea what her mother's opinion would be. The esteemed matriarch would find out at some point, after the wedding it was only a matter of time before the blind dates she'd arranged started pouring in. And then Gail would have to come clean about her burgeoning relationship with Holly. It could either go really badly or really well. Either situation was, quite simply, terrifying.

She couldn't bring herself to finish what she'd started in the shower, feeling physically, but mostly emotionally, exhausted. The blonde was moderately concerned about what the rest of 15 was going to say at work, now she was the department's lesbian on top of the Nick and Andy drama. Gail crawled into bed, the alcohol taking its toll on her body's capabilities. Her phone buzzed on the bedside table.

_Hey cop, hope you made it back safely. Thanks for tonight x_

Despite her conflicting feelings, the blonde smiled. She was touched by how much Holly cared, more so than anyone else she'd ever dated.

_Safe and sound nerd. See you soon x. _Gail's thumb hovered over the last key, unaccustomed to such familiarity with anyone. She tapped it anyway and hit send. It just felt right.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: **Yeah, so it's been a while. Life, health and graduation (on a happier note, I'm editing my thesis for a journal publication so wahoo!). My apologies, to make up for it I wrote a slightly longer chapter than I normally would have. I love your reviews, keep 'em coming. Cheers to all of you who took the time to review, favourite and follow :)

The characters aren't mine, I don't own anything. Just a poor student with crushing debt. All errors, however, are mine. Do feel free to point them out to me xox

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4.<strong>

There is a particular enzyme that exists in the stomach lining and liver that breaks down alcohol. With increased consumption of alcohol, your body starts to produce more levels of alcohol dehydrogenase to metabolise the extra alcohol. In essence, a tolerance of sorts, is produced. Throughout the years, Gail had found that while her drinking habits had increased dramatically, the hangovers hadn't worsened. If anything, they had lightened considerably since her first illicit teenage party. Although, maybe Gail had just gotten used to dealing with the aftermath better than her adolescent self.

Last night, at her boss' wedding of all places, Gail had consumed arguably the most alcohol in recent memory. And now, her body was paying for it dearly. Everything felt sluggish; limbs refusing to cooperate, eyes crusted together with leftover bits of sleep and her head felt like it was stuffed with cotton wool. Gail felt like death. Much like a cruel joke, a loud vibrating against the bedside table cut through her brain's fogginess and ignited a stabbing headache. It lasted an agonisingly long twenty seconds and the blonde had no intention of answering it, even if she were physically capable. However, after several missed calls in rapid succession, Gail realised it wasn't going to end until she picked up the damn phone.

"What?" Her voice was rough, the word was almost inaudible and came out as a croak more than anything else.

Traci's voice blasted in her ear, making her head throb painfully. "Fucking finally! I'm standing outside your apartment, let me in. I'll make you breakfast?"

Gail simply hung up and threw the device somewhere in the general vicinity of her room. It landed with a loud clatter and she winced at the sound.

"Whhhhhhhhhhhy?" The blonde moaned pitifully into her pillow about her self-inflicted pain. Traci had better be dying, or close to it, to dare disturb a hungover Gail Peck. It was akin to poking an injured grizzly bear, inherently stupid and extremely ill-advised.

It took a good ten minutes for the blonde to put on a hoodie and, quite literally, crawl to the front door. Standing, unaided, was still precarious at this stage. And with all their junk cluttered around the house, tripping over was practically inevitable.

"What the hell do you want Trace?" The whole situation would have appeared a lot more threatening had the blonde not been on the floor, peering up at her friend through bloodshot eyes.

"Wow, Gail. You look like shit." Traci grinned down at the sorry sight.

"I wouldn't if you'd let me have two more hours sleep." The blonde growled.

"Crawl into the kitchen, I bought an arsenal of hangover cures just in case." Traci stepped over the blonde's unmoving body and made her way towards the kitchen. She pulled out a sports drink, painkillers and placed a tall glass of water on the table. Gail wasn't in the mood to argue so she downed the pills and half the sports drink, her stomach protesting at the sudden intrusion of the flavoured liquid.

The darker woman smirked, enjoying the sight of Gail at her lowest before rummaging through her bag for the food she had bought on her way over. Soon the smell of bacon and hash browns was wafting through the kitchen and loud rumbling sounds erupted from Gail's lower abdomen. Her appetite was coming back, clearly the blonde was feeling a lot better.

Traci took this moment as prime opportunity to engage her friend. "You and Holly, huh?"

After the effort Traci had gone to, the least Gail could do was provide the gossip she knew her friend thrived on. The blonde shrugged noncommittally, "She likes me, Traci."

"No shit, Gail. Do you like her back?" Gail didn't need to see Traci's face to know the darker woman was probably rolling her eyes, prompting information from the blonde was like extracting teeth.

Traci waited for the admission, due to come in three, two … "Yeah, I do. I like her a lot." Gail never failed to deliver.

"So why do I sense there's a 'but' coming?"

"I don't know what to do." Gail said simply.

The darker haired woman blew out an exasperated sigh, "You're doing fine. What's the problem?"

"Yeah. I'm doing fine now, but we both know my track record is pretty shitty. I'm going to fuck this up Traci." She sighed, slumping into the kitchen chair.

"Yeah, you probably will." Gail rolled her eyes, clear indicator for 'really?' Traci continued, ignoring the blonde's glares, "Well I think if Holly's right for you, then she'll stick it out. As long as you're trying, then I think that's all she can ask of you."

It made sense, she hated how Traci was always right. "Is my life seriously that interesting, that you would come over and make me brunch to cure my hangover?"

Traci tipped the food onto a plate and placed in front of the grumpy blonde with a satisfied expression on her face. "Yes, Gail. Believe it or not, there _are _people that care about you. You deserve to be happy."

"'Kay, you're all weird anyway." The blonde mumbled with her mouth full, eager for the distraction. Being the centre of attention was something Gail despised and her personal life was definitely something she didn't want being discussed amongst her colleagues.

"If it makes you feel better, Steve and I had a 20 buck bet on you two last night. I lost, so you owe me $20." Traci laughed and dished up her own food before sitting down to brunch with her favourite snarky cop.

* * *

><p>Gail's hangover felt infinitely better after ingesting the greasy food, Traci's cure had done wonders. The two women were staring at the TV with identical expressions of glazed boredom while their insides digested brunch. Neither were in the mood for extensive conversation, content to simply mull over their own thoughts. After the social whirlwind of Frank's wedding, it was nice to have some peace and quiet. A Star Wars ringtone broke the monotony.<p>

Gail groaned, there was only one person worthy of being assigned the Darth Vader theme song. "Oh God. It's the dragon lady."

Traci whistled, impressed at how quickly Elaine worked. "That was fast. She _knows _you have the day off, you gotta answer it."

"Mother?" Gail rolled her eyes. Even though the Superintendent couldn't see it, it was more force of habit than anything else.

"Have I woken you? My apologies." Gail huffed, knowing her mother was referring to her post-drunken throatiness. In fact, knowing Elaine Peck, she probably timed her calls when she knew Gail would be at her most vulnerable. It made her more compliant to the Superintendent's _requests._ "I wasn't sleeping, I'm getting sick. What inspired a call at such a reasonable hour?"

"Gail, 2.30 is hardly inappropriate. I know for a fact that Frank gave you all the day off after his wedding. I heard you took a plus one … would you care to enlighten me?" Elaine ignored the sarcasm, far too used to it by now.

Gail faltered, unsure how to approach the question. She decided to play it safe, at least until she had talked to Holly about it. "A friend, mother. Is that acceptable?"

"Well at least you didn't attend alone, I suppose. I've arranged another date for you this evening, his name is Richard. Promise me you'll be nice to this one? William's mother called the other day, apparently you made an impression. Unfortunately, not one that I had hoped you would." Gail snickered, she remembered that date vividly. The man thought going to a rifle range would be something they could both relate too. However, Gail's competitive streak got the better of her and she far outshot her poor date. William left rather abruptly afterwards claiming, "I've got a headache, I'll call you later okay?" Unsurprisingly, he never did call back.

"If it stops you from calling me for a few weeks, then yes. I'll go on this stupid arranged date. Tell him to meet me at 'Balluchon', 7.30." The blonde sighed, giving in to her mother's demands was the fastest way to get rid of her.

"Richard has just finished his Masters; he has plans and ambitions. Just _try _for once, will you? It was all well and good when you were younger, but you need to start thinking about your future." Elaine sounded exasperated.

"Mother, I am a person not an asset. This is the last one, I'm not going on any more." Gail ground out irritably.

"Very well. We are having a family dinner in three weeks' time, we can discuss matters then." That was code for 'I'm not arguing about this now but you _will_ hear about it later'.

Gail hung up. Goodbyes were a brusque and abrupt affair between the Peck mother and daughter.

"Another date?" Traci questioned.

Gail left her friend on the couch and headed to her bedroom to rummage for some suitable outfits, calling out down the hallway. "She told me I needed to find someone before my eggs dried up."

She could hear Traci laughing at the Superintendent's absurd views on her children's lives. "God, Gail. You're 26 not 46."

"And let's be honest, nobody is going to want more Peck spawn released into the world. I'm doing you all a favour here." Gail said with a sardonic grin.

Traci returned the sentiment with a sympathetic smile but neglected to say anything further. Gail was brilliant with children, and Traci didn't give out such praise lightly. Out of any of her friends, Gail was the first person she turned to when she needed help with Leo. She knew, without a doubt, if Gail ever chose to have 'spawn' then they couldn't be in better hands. "Okay, I'm gonna say go with the black number. Nice enough for a date but casual enough for coffee, win win right?

"Thanks Trace. Also thanks for coming over this morning."

"It's no problem, you're my friend. Plus, your awful dates are making me feel a hell of a lot better about my own problems." Traci waved her off.

"Glad I could be of service." Gail retorted. With a softer tone, she added, "Is it Leo? Is that why you won't date Steve? Cause I'm just saying I get it. Everything's supposed to be harder when you have a kid. But you should give him a chance, I think he might surprise you."

"Yeah, thanks Gail. I just need some time. I finally sorted out how to run my life and …" Traci trailed off before wistfully stating, "I gotta put Leo first. Maybe one day Steve and I might get there, but for now I'm okay with just me and Leo."

* * *

><p>For the millionth time, only a <em>slight<em> exaggeration, Gail wondered why she consented to these set ups. As far as dates went, this one was exceedingly awful and it was getting worse by the minute. Surely Elaine had to be setting Gail up with these men to punish her, there was no way a person like Gail would ever date a person like Richard. At least she could enjoy her 'festive' latte, if nothing else.

"It takes a brave girl to agree to go on a blind date, even if you are on the rebound." Richard started. If he thought that was an adequate conversation opener, then Gail dreaded what was going to follow.

"Who told you that?" The blonde was mildly irritated, she already knew the answer.

"Your mother; my father is her boss. I guess she wanted to make sure I knew what I was getting into. And when she showed me that picture of you –"

"Oh God." Gail sighed. Of _course_ her mother would show her date the most unflattering picture she had in her arsenal. She tried to change the subject, "What accent is that?"

"I'm from Nottingham." Richard said easily.

"Oooh, did you live in the woods with the band of merry men?" Gail chuckled at her own joke.

"Are you asking me if I'm a homosexual?" Apparently the reference escaped her date and it went down like a proverbial lead balloon.

Gail tried to salvage the conversation, at least until she had finished her coffee. "So what were you doing in Nottingham?"

"I was studying; doing my Masters in medieval languages and literature." He responded with a smarmy look, well chuffed with his achievements.

"That's very random." The blonde nodded politely, pretending to care about her date's life. "How long were you there for?"

"Two years. I was born and bred about 20 minutes from here in Forest Hill."

Gail narrowed her eyes and shook her head briefly, making sure she heard correctly. "Can we recap? You were only in England for two years?"

"Uh, what are you asking me here?" Richard looked confused.

Who the _fuck _lives in a country for two years and comes back sounding like a native speaker. _Two fucking years. _Gail suspected the only reason he spoke like Robin Hood was in the hopes of seducing women. Honestly, he didn't have much else going for him, unless the female in question was into medieval poetry. To be fair, there was nothing wrong with his accent. Gail liked different accents. It was just a shame that the accent was also accompanied by the annoying word vomit pouring from his mouth that gave her a massive urge to slap the pompous git.

"Do they have any alcohol here?" Despite still feeling the aftereffects of last night, Gail didn't think she could last another minute sober in the man's company.

Richard lowered his voice suggestively, "I have a fully stocked bar back at my flat. We could leave right now if you wanted."

It had been a grand total of 25 minutes since Gail had arrived and about 20 minutes longer than she had wanted to stay. "Right. Well Richard, let me just tell you this now; this date is not going well for you. I'm going to finish my festive latte and then I'm going to go home. Alone." Gail was reaching her full stride, her voice silky and exuding dangerousness. "Because there isn't enough alcohol in the world to get me in bed with you."

"Can I keep your number in case you should change your mind?" Poor Richard looked hopeful. Had it been any other woman, perhaps they would've taken pity on him. But this was Gail Peck.

The officer lifted a perfect brow and tried her best not to sneer, "Keep the latte, I'm going to leave now."

Fuck Richard. And fuck Elaine Peck's attempts to control her love life. Gail wanted one thing right now and it certainly wasn't a festive English twit with his medieval bollocks.

* * *

><p>For the second morning in a row, Traci had come over for breakfast. Thankfully, this time Gail was already up and not afflicted with a blinding hangover. They sat at the table nursing their coffees, eagerly waiting for Dov to arrive with their guests.<p>

"Honey! I'm home!" A tall, dark haired man dumped his bags on the floor and held out his arms expectantly, a giant smile lighting up his features.

"Mort!" Gail ran and leapt into Mort's arms. Luckily the blonde was light enough so that she didn't bowl him over with the sheer force of her momentum.

Mort, also went by 'Chris' occasionally, took everything in stride and swung Gail around. They both laughed, his enthusiasm was infectious. Traci grinned at the sight, to anyone else observing it was impossible to tell that Chris and Gail had once dated. Their previous history didn't affect their current relationship like it had with Nick and Gail's. After a few months of dating, they had both come to realise that they were better off as friends. Now they had a close bond that wasn't unlike her and Steve's relationship.

"How are you?" Gail grinned, finally letting go of Chris. He scooped Traci up and gave her a crushing hug, minus the aerial time.

"I'm great!" Chris' enthusiasm was accompanied by great, swinging hand gestures, "And the place, the place looks great too."

The blonde snorted, "Yeah and it smells better too."

"I _told _you that smell was your fault." Dov chimed in, their banter fell into a familiar rhythm.

"Thanks so much for letting us stay." Denise piped up, bringing in the last of the bags.

Dov and Chris wore identical expressions of ill-disguised horror. Dov had forgotten to call ahead and give Gail a heads-up. It was well-known that the blonde did _not _take well to surprises, they had found that out the hard way. Dov never did find out what happened to their pet fish. In retrospect, it was probably better that way.

"You're staying here?" Gail saw both Dov and Chris silently pleading with her behind Denise's back. Her look of incredulousness morphed into something that was meant to be a smile but rather resembled a grimace. "I mean _you're_ staying here."

Dov and Chris let out audible sighs of relief. As the others headed off to put away suitcases and get settled, Gail leant up on her tiptoes next to her ex-boyfriend. While maintaining her cheery façade, she whispered into Chris' ear, "You owe me breakfast, doughnuts _and_ drinks at the Penny now."

"Anything you want. Just don't be yourself." The tall man muttered back, a similarly fake smile adorning his features as well. Gail responded by punching him in the arm, receiving a surprised yelp in return.

Gail's phone rang. "Hey Ollie –"

"No time for chitchat Peck. I need you, Epstein and Price to suit up and get down to Sorauren park." Oliver cut in.

Gail was confused, "What's going on?"

"Child abduction. Christian's been taken."

"On our way." Gail slammed her phone on the table and ran to get her uniform on. Banging on Dov's door as she passed, "We need to get down to the park."

"Gail what happened?" Chris stuck his head out of his former room.

"Okay. Chris, Denise, don't panic." The blonde sucked in a breath, resenting that she had to be the one to break the bad news. "Christian's been abducted and Dov, Chloe and I are going to head down there and help Oliver out."

As soon as the words left her mouth, the flat became a frantic hive of activity. Dov, Chloe and Gail needed to get ready while Traci was left to deal with the upset parents. Chris called Andy's phone, swearing each time it went to voicemail. Traci grimaced, she knew Andy wouldn't be able to answer her phone, she was probably busy being grilled by the D's at the scene.

When they arrived, the park had already been taped off and forensics were collecting samples from the car. A smaller group of civilians were standing to one side looking both curious and fearful that a child abductor was loose in their town. Chris threw open the car door and strode towards the congregation of people, everyone else quickly following behind.

Ollie looked up at the impending footsteps and smiled wearily at his former rookie. "Hey Diaz, good to see you. So Detective Swarek has been _kind _enough to interview Collins and McNally." The older man threw a foul look at Sam, they must have had an argument prior to their arrival. Chris merely nodded at the greeting, his jaw grimly set shut with barely suppressed fury. His eyes swept across the crime scene until they fixated on two figures standing away from the hubbub.

"What the hell are you even doing here?" Chris burst out angrily at Nick, effectively echoing Gail's sentiments. As much as she felt like yelling at them both, she was still on the job so she left Chris to shred them. The blonde settled for glaring at her former friends before wordlessly leaving to assist Cruz and speak to the remaining witnesses.

"Hold up there Cowboy, I'm gonna need you to head down to the station. We can't have you down here right now, you know that." Ollie threw up his hands apologetically but also making it clear that it wasn't something he was going to budge on.

Traci tugged at his sleeve, "C'mon, I'll take you both down to the station now."

"Collins, McNally! Let's go!" Swarek called out, already leaving.

These witnesses were useless. Cruz had already scribbled down anything of importance and now they were being flooded with more questions than useful answers. "Do you think he'll come back here?" "Are our children safe?" "He just looked so normal! How can people do these kinds of things?"

"Alright! People, I'm going to need you all to quieten down!" Cruz looked fed up, crowd control was the last thing she wanted to do. Gail took the opportunity to wander back to Oliver and see if there was anything else that needed to be done before they wrapped up and headed to the station.

"I got some hair on the car seat, possibly the victims. And some blood on the upholstery." A dark haired forensic worker was hunched over the car seat. Oliver nodded, pleased at the hard evidence they could rely on over shaky witness testimonies.

"Great. Peck, do you wanna take this and get it analysed up at the lab? Hopefully it's our abductors and he's in the system." He handed her the bag of samples and smiled warmly, despite the seriousness of their situation. No matter how dark things seemed, Gail could always count on Ollie, he was her rock.

Gail gave Ollie a rueful smile, "I'll head there now and let you know when I find something."

* * *

><p>"Hey, thanks so much for doing this." Gail handed Holly a coffee, it was becoming a habit.<p>

"Well, a kid goes missing, pretty much jumps to the top of the pile." The brunette shrugged it off. Running DNA samples wasn't the high tech work normally run by pathologists, pretty much anyone that worked in the lab could perform the tests but a lack of anything interesting and a desire to see the blonde cop prompted Holly to take on the Diaz case. "What's so important about this case?"

"Chris used to work at 15. He transferred to Timmins with his partner Denise. Their kid, Christian, was abducted today when Andy was supposed to be watching him." Gail had thinly veiled contempt in her voice when she mentioned Andy's name. Holly nodded, making a mental note never to get on the blonde's bad side. It was clear that she held grudges, with little possibility of letting things go in the foreseeable future. Although she'd never met Officer McNally, the doctor was quick to realise that whatever she'd done was enough to warrant the blonde's ire that hadn't abated even slightly in the time since they'd met.

"Woah, crazy. I know I'm just the lab monkey but I feel like all of you guys are too close to work this case."

"Oh, and Chris and I used to date." Gail added casually, like it was no big deal. Holly's eyes widened in surprise at the admission but she said nothing. She was well aware that Gail generally identified as straight and wasn't sure what that meant for their potential relationship. However, now was not the time to bring it up.

"How long until we find out if the DNA is in the system?" The officer stared intently at the computer screen, watching the letters and numbers flash.

"A couple of hours, maybe more?" Holly estimated.

"Can't you make it go faster?" Gail was impatient at the best of times but especially so today.

The doctor rolled her eyes, "Sure, I'll just rush the Polymerase Chain Reaction. It's not like it's important. Maybe you could chip in? How are you at identifying short tandem repeats?"

"You coulda just said no." Gail wrinkled her nose, unimpressed by the unnecessary jargon.

Holly smirked, teasing the blonde was quickly becoming one of her favourite past times. She walked around the blonde to pick up some papers she'd set aside for the officer to take back. "I did find something interesting. The typing came back inconsistent."

Gail looked over the papers briefly and cocked a brow, "In English?"

"The blood sample you bought in? It contained two different types of blood, A and O negative." The brunette clarified.

The cogs were slowly turning in Gail's brain. "So we had two abductors?"

"Or maybe one of them is Christian's." Holly finished. "I'm checking it against the hair and saliva samples from the car and toy."

"Okay, I gotta make a call." Gail stepped outside the lab and relayed Holly's results to Oliver. "I'm gonna head back and follow up on the tips coming in. Let me know when the rest of the results come in?"

Holly nodded at the blonde, "Will do, cop."

"Thanks lunchbox." Gail hesitated briefly, lingering in the doorframe. Did she hug her goodbye? Maybe that was too personal. Although, they'd hooked up in a cloakroom already, so they were probably past the point of friendship boundaries.

While Gail's mind was having its own internal conflict, Holly observed her with keen interest. The doctor couldn't tell what Gail was so torn about but was relatively certain that it was probably about her. She decided to make things easy on the poor officer, "Gail? You're not moving anywhere fast. I'll catch up with you later, okay?"

That snapped the blonde out of her reverie, "You're right. I'll see you soon, Holly." And with that, she departed. There were no hugs, lingering touches or kiss goodbyes. It left Gail with a strange, unfinished feeling, like something was missing. The blonde sighed, she would deal with these _feelings _after Christian was found.

* * *

><p>Gail took the paperwork back to the station, "Hey Ollie, what's new?"<p>

"Parade, now." Oliver didn't stop to make conversation, beckoning the blonde to follow him with a quick wave of his hand.

Once everyone was present and accounted for, Oliver started speaking, "We got a visual ID on our abductor, his name's Gene McKenzie. He's in our system for an aggravated assault in '95."

"He's Christian's soccer coach back in Timmins." Dov explained the connection to the group of officers and handed out papers with all of their abductor's details.

Oliver nodded before continuing, "He's also a swimming instructor and little league coach. Last seen at the movie theatre in Dundas Square, 30 minutes we _do_ know is that Christian seems to be alive and well. We're gonna canvas the entire area. Looking for a green hatchback, licence number 'alpha, yankee, x-ray, lima, 112. Let's go find this boy."

It was a solid lead and it gave them all renewed determination. It also meant that Gail didn't need to answer the phones. A vast bulk of the tips that came in were often a complete waste of time and Gail hated having to sift through the useless information.

Meanwhile, Traci was trying to placate Chris' frustration after the visual confirmation showed that the abductor was in fact known to them the entire time. "I should've known. All that extra attention he'd give Christian ... I'm a cop! I should've known!"

Before he realised what he was doing, a chair had flown through the glass wall and shattered it. A heavy silence hung in the air, the only noise coming from the shards falling from the remnants of the panels. Everyone stared at Chris, shock and concern evident over most of their faces. Chris seemed as stunned as everyone else at his actions and walked over to the chair in an attempt to tidy up his mess.

"Okay, there's a first aid kit in the lounge." Traci told Denise; Chris had cut himself on the broken glass and drops of scarlet were slowly dripping onto the floor. Turning to the remaining officers, Traci took charge of the situation. "You guys get back to work, we've still got a kid to find. Someone get the cleaners to come take care of the glass."

Gail's phone buzzed, it was Holly. "Hey, results have just come in. Do you want me to get someone to run them up to you guys?"

"No, it's fine. I'll come and get them, thanks Holly." Honestly, the tranquillity of the lab was much preferred to the tense atmosphere of the station and Chris' volatile temper.

The receptionist at the front desk when she walked into the lab for the second time that day gave her a knowing smirk, "Nice to see you so soon, Officer."

Gail gave the receptionist an icy glare but said nothing. She weighed up putting the fear of God into the younger woman but frankly, seeing Holly was more important.

"What the …" Holly was focused on the print outs and hadn't noticed Gail arrive. Her expression was steadily becoming grimmer with each line she read.

The blonde was getting anxious, "What the what, Holly?"

"Huh?" Holly's head snapped up in surprise.

Gail snatched the papers out of Holly's hands, assuming it would be faster if she just read the results herself. Unfortunately, everything looked like unintelligible squiggles on the page. "What does it mean?"

The doctor looked slightly awkward, unsure how to approach the results considering how the potential ramifications would affect the officers working the case. "Ah. It's a PCR and essentially we're replicating the DNA you gave us so we can run tests or whatever we want with it." She paused, to make sure Gail was following. The blonde raised her eyebrows and waved her hands, gesturing for Holly to get to the point. "What it's saying here is that the two samples are a genetic match, so I think that whoever took Christian is his biological father."

"Shit." Gail swore, she took the papers and strode out of the lab. Holly sighed, that had gone about as well as she'd thought it would. Not only were all of these officers too close to the case in Holly's opinion, but now Chris was going to find out that he wasn't even Christian's biological father. The doctor sat down at the desk and resumed poring over the DNA results to ensure she hadn't missed anything important.

Gail poked her head around the doorway to Holly's lab, somewhat sheepishly. "Uh, lunchbox? What are you doing tonight?"

Holly lifted her head up from her paperwork, slightly surprised at the question. "I was heading out to the batting cages tonight, you can come join me if you want?"

"Sure, sounds good." The cop nodded eagerly.

That surprised Holly even more, but she wasn't going to question it. "Great! Meet me at the lab when you're done?"

"Okay, sure. And uhh, I forgot to give you this last time." Gail walked over to Holly's desk and shyly leant down and kissed the brunette on the cheek. "Thanks, Holly."

The blonde quickly left so Holly wouldn't notice her flushing cheeks. Gail felt a rush of elation as she strutted down the hall, an extra skip in her step. She had finally found something that made her happy. They hadn't spoken about the kiss at Frank and Noelle's wedding yet. It's not that they were avoiding having 'the talk' but they hadn't managed to find time to talk about it properly. If all went well tonight, then maybe they could find out where they stood with one another and hopefully see where it took them.

* * *

><p>Oliver and Traci were going over the evidence in the meeting room. Both were frowning at the information they had; they couldn't explain <em>why <em>Gene would follow Chris and Denise to Toronto to abduct Christian. Logically, it made zero sense. Gail interrupted their discussion, "Guys, I have something."

Everyone in the room looked at her expectantly. "We pulled two DNA samples from the crime scene. One of them was Gene McKenzie's and the other wasn't in the system but it matches the hair we found on the car seat."

"So it's Christian's?" Dov questioned.

The blonde sighed, not relishing having to be the bearer of the worst news possible for the second time that day. "The two samples are a genetic match. Gene McKenzie is Christian's father."

Dov stiffened in surprise and he looked up from the test results in disbelief. The blonde nodded grimly, confirming their worst fears and Dov's face darkened. He headed out to confront Denise and no one else was willing, or wanting, to stop him.

A meeting between Denise and Gene had been set up. Of course Denise had no intention of going and Gene was about to be met with a whole squad of police officers, including Chris. Although the revelation was going to have a profound impact on Chris' life after the case was over, understanding Gene's motives had been the fastest way to get Christian back. He had taken the news surprisingly well, nothing had been broken this time. Although they suspected it was shock more than anything else that kept Chris so calm and level-headed.

"We're heading out to the fair now, you wanna ride with?" Dov stopped by Gail's desk. The blonde shook her head, having no desire to get involved. He gave her a tired smile and left her to finish up for the day. Today had not gone according to plan and Gail seriously doubted she was going to get doughnuts and drinks from Chris now. If anything, it was going to be the other way around.

"Hey, do you know if Chris is still around?" It sounded like Chloe but Gail didn't even bother to acknowledge her presence. After a good hour of writing, Gail had developed a steady rhythm. She was almost finished and eager to get the hell out of the station as fast as she could. "Uh, he and Denise took Christian back to the apartment."

"Okay, have you seen Dov?" Chloe tried again.

"I don't really keep tabs on your boyfriend." She muttered distractedly.

"Well do you know if he's gone home? Because –"

"Chloe?" The blonde sat up and looked at Chloe for the first time. She gestured at her work, "You see all this forensic blah blah blah that I have to add to my notes? I have to be somewhere so if you don't mind, could you just go be somewhere else please?"

"Yeah. Okay, well when you do go home, could you just drop this off for me?" Chloe asked, in a last ditch attempt to get her gift to Christian.

"Do I look like a FedEx box to you?" The brunette looked resigned. She should have known better than to expect a favour from Gail.

"The old one's gonna be in evidence for a while. So…" Chloe held the stuffed puppy out and waved it around limply.

Gail noticed it was exactly the same on that Christian had earlier. She instantly felt like shit. "Where did you get that?"

"I went by the toy store afterwards cause I thought it might help. Especially after a day like Christian's had. Anyways, could you just uh, give that to Chris?" Gail felt guilty about blowing her off earlier. They were so poles apart in terms of their personality that sometimes Gail let her irritation for the other woman overshadow Chloe's actions.

"Yeah sure." Chloe nodded appreciatively and turned to leave.

"Hey." If she was going to have a serious 'feelings' talk with Holly later, it seemed like a good idea to practice now. "You're very wide open and bright-eyed, it's kinda like you belong in The Sound of Music. What that means Chloe, is that you're not afraid to be yourself and it drives me crazy. Because I …"

"I get it, Gail. Apology accepted." She had a small smile curling at the edges of her lips.

The blonde scoffed, "Oh. Yeah, I'm not apologising."

"Yes, you are. Have a good night Gail."

* * *

><p>Gail was moderately embarrassed when Holly mentioned the name of the batting cages and she realised she had absolutely no idea where it was. The doctor had lived in the city for a fraction of the time as Gail and the ease with which she navigated the busy streets made her feel vaguely incompetent. When you also factored in the fact that as a Police Officer, she was <em>expected <em>to know the city blind-folded, only fuelled her shame.

"Okay, so I'll watch you hit the tiny piece of leather with a wooden club right?" Gail disguised her apprehension as best she could with her signature brand of sarcasm.

"You make it sound so primitive." Holly scrunched her nose up. "You've never been to the batting cages before?"

The blonde snorted, yeah right. "Uhhh, no. I don't really _do _sports."

Holly lifted the bat easily behind her shoulder, looking comfortable outfitted in a helmet and boots. She swung the bat in a single fluid motion and Gail watched the ball soar across the pitch. The blonde gaped slightly at Holly's clear athleticism. Multiple hits and every single one was met with a resounding _thwack_. There was no way Gail could compete with that. She prayed that she could get away without showing off her horrendous batting skills.

"Come on cop. It's cathartic, especially after a day like today." Shit. Gail refused to move.

"It's not going to kill you." The brunette stood in front of the other woman and waved the bat teasingly.

"Fine." Gail yielded, far too quickly. The blonde mentally cursed the hold Holly seemed to have over her. She grabbed the bat and stalked onto the base that marked the spot.

The buzzer sounded; a baseball hurtling towards her general facial area was now imminent. The seconds between the buzzer sounding and a ball being fired couldn't have been more than two, maybe three seconds but it felt like forever. Gail's anxiety peaked and she swung wildly before diving for cover, not even bothering to see if she was close to hitting her target. The bat flew out of her grasp and loudly clanged onto the pitch before rolling out of reach. Holly watched the whole scene unfold and it was the most comical thing she had ever seen. She doubled over, great heaving fits of laughter bursting from her chest.

"Oh, God. I feel so humiliated right now." The top of Gail's ears had reddened significantly.

Holly stopped laughing just enough to quip, "Actually, I take it back. It _might _kill you."

"I told you I don't do sports!" Gail laughed, ducking her head in embarrassment. It was hard not to find the situation funny and she welcomed the light-hearted change of pace, even if it was at her own expense. But Gail was now relegated to watching Holly smash the balls instead. It seemed safer for everyone involved.

After a few more cracking shots, Holly turned back to her blonde companion. "Come on, try it one more time?"

This time Gail didn't even bother trying to argue. She took the proffered bat and stood with her feet firmly planted on the spot. What she was _not_ expecting, however, was for the doctor to stand behind her and help her swing the bat.

"Okay, we're going to put our hands here," Holly slid one of Gail's hands near the base of the bat, "and here." She gently nudged her other hand just on top of the other.

"You're going to do the swinging right?" There was no way Gail could concentrate on anything other than Holly's body pressing closely against her back. The blonde could feel the doctor's rather supple breasts against her and her mouth went dry. She felt embarrassed at the intensity of the feelings it was stirring inside of her, she wasn't a teenager anymore.

Holly chuckled behind her, tickling the loose wisps of Gail's hair. "Yes, Gail. Just don't go diving anywhere this time."

The buzzer went off and it took all of Gail's willpower not to jerk away and run. Somehow she managed to suppress her instincts and let Holly take control. The blonde felt Holly's arms swing the bat through the air as her body twisted to allow a full range of motion. A loud crack sounded as the bat connected with the ball and the blonde could just make out the small white object flying towards the safety nets.

"Not bad, cop." Holly bumped her on the hip.

"I aim to please." She commented dryly. "That's my talent used up for the night though, I'm retiring."

The night was clear and there was a slight nip in the air but it made everything feel crisp and placed everything into stark focus. "Here, take my jacket. It's getting kinda cold. I wanna have a few more hits and then we can finish up."

Gail put on Holly's jersey and inhaled, grinning like an idiot once the brunette had turned back towards the pitch. After a good half hour, Holly turned back towards Gail, "I'm turning in for the night, I'm knackered."

The exertion had left a light sheen of perspiration across her forehead so she was happy to let Gail keep her jacket. The cop also resembled an adorable critter and Holly was damned if she was going to ruin the sight of a cute Gail Peck. "So we did something that I wanted to do, it's only fair I do something that you pick."

The blonde was silent for a few minutes, pondering the possibilities. "Can we raincheck that? An opportunity to make Holly Stewart do anything I choose is something I need to carefully consider."

"Well we could grab takeout and watch movies at mine?" Holly had a feeling that she was going to regret giving Gail a free pass to anything she wanted to do.

"Sounds like a plan nerd."

* * *

><p>Holly's apartment was nice. Maybe nice was an understatement. It was the type of place that screamed 'high-paying job' without throwing it in your face. Gail appreciated how comfortable the space was; modern and inviting, with just the right amount of nerd if you knew where to look. An unsolved Rubik's cube resting atop a stack of medical journals on the coffee table. The Tardis teapot tucked behind the kettle in the kitchen corner. It was all very 'Holly'. Gail smiled as her eyes swept across the open space, determined to memorise as many details as she could.<p>

"So feel free to stay. It's getting late and I really can't be bothered driving at this time of night." Holly placed the food on the counter and started rummaging through the cupboards for some plates.

Gail plopped onto a stool, resting her elbows on the kitchen island. "If you wanted me in your bed, you could've just asked."

Holly paused what she was doing to give the other woman a deftly arched brow accompanied by her crooked grin, "I've got a spare room. Plus, what did you think was going to happen if we hung out this late? You sort the TV out and I'll grab us some plates."

_Two minutes later. _"Hoooooolly? I need your brain."

The brunette found Gail sitting in front of the TV with a mass of cables tangled on her lap, looking extremely disgruntled. "There wasn't anything good on and I can't make the computer do the thing on the TV. Why don't you have DVDs like normal people?"

Holly rolled her eyes and smiled sympathetically at the blonde's plight. "Gail, lots of people don't own DVDs anymore. And you seriously can't connect a computer to the TV?" She plugged in the cables and pulled up a folder of movies on the computer screen.

"I'm just going to assume all of these were procured legally." Gail frowned, crossing her arms.

"And I am going to use my right to remain silent." Holly winked. "If the crisis is over, I'm going to get the food now. I'm starving."

Gail was already sprawled across the couch when Holly placed two plates on the coffee table. 'The Avengers' opening credits were running on the TV and Holly grimaced briefly but wisely said nothing. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy the movie; there was enough action to keep her interest piqued but it was immensely popular with her younger family members and had been far too overplayed.

"Did you get any more food?" Holly was halfway through her plate and Gail had already demolished hers.

Holly frowned, they'd bought enough for three grown men. "Uh no? Did you inhale that?"

"Oh." Gail was disappointed. "Do you have Cheesepuffs?"

"Yeah, someone gave me a bag but I don't really eat junk food." The doctor may as well have been talking to herself. As soon as Gail heard confirmation of existence, she was foraging in the kitchen for the artificial goodness. Holly made a mental note to start buying more junk food. Well, food in general.

About halfway through the movie, Gail was fidgeting and sneaking covert glances at her brunette companion every two minutes. The Cheesepuffs were long gone and she didn't have any more distractions. She couldn't contain herself for much longer. The need to talk about the elephant in the room was almost overwhelming and it rendered the blonde unable to concentrate on anything else. It was time to bite the bullet, for better or worse.

Gail poked the doctor in the ribs, "Hey Holly. I was thinking that we … should talk. About the wedding."

Holly shrugged and gave the blonde a cheeky grin, "Well I really liked Noelle's dress. And the dessert was great. But I'd probably fire the coat check girl, she seemed pretty useless." Of course. Trust Holly to take a perfectly serious moment and make a joke about it. It did make Gail feel slightly more comfortable, which was probably why Holly did it in the first place.

"You know what I meant, lunchbox." The blonde mumbled and turned her head away, flushing with embarrassment.

"Okay, well I'm not sorry I kissed you." Holly's face was resolute, her dark orbs earnest. "I want you Gail. I want all of you; all the good, the bad and the ugly. And if you want me back, then maybe we could see what happens?" It was the most sincere thing anyone had ever said to her. And not for a single moment did Gail think that Holly didn't want every single part of her. This was exactly what Gail wanted, all she had to say was _I want you too. _But Gail wasn't that brave. She wasn't the type of person to wear their heart on their sleeve and lay themselves bare in front of the one thing that could quite possibly ruin her.

Holly was waiting for a response. She looked so damn hopeful and Gail knew what she was waiting for. But the words constricted in her throat, coming out mangled and twisted. "Holly ... I just … I'm not a good person okay?"

The blonde broke eye contact with Holly, she didn't want to see the crushing disappointment in her normally warm eyes. She lifted herself off the couch and paced back and forth, struggling to put her feelings into words, "I like you, I really fucking like you. But I'm not good at this, like I'm actually really horrible at these things. I'm not the girl people take home to their parents. Or the girl that remembers to buy you things on stupid holidays. I'm moody, unfriendly and kinda weird."

"I know that Gail." Holly's eyes were kind, she'd expected resistance and knew pursuing the cop wouldn't be easy. Gail risked glancing back at the brunette and was confused when she found traces of a smile flit across her lips. Holly wasn't angry at her?

"All that stuff? That's what I like about you. I'm not saying that we should rush into anything crazy. I want to keep hanging out with you. And maybe kiss you and hold your hand occasionally." The doctor was smiling, there was no doubt now. It was honest and sincere and it gave Gail hope.

_'As long as you're trying, I think that's all Holly can ask of you.' _Traci was right. Well, she usually was, not that Gail was _ever _going to admit that to her. Holly was different to any other person that had shown romantic interest in her before. She was patient and understanding, somehow intuitively knew what Gail needed. Gail wanted this more than anything else but her old insecurities wouldn't back down without one last push. "But what if something happens? What if I fuck it up and everything turns to shit?"

"Then we deal with it when it happens. I promise you that can have all the space and time you need. Just let me inside that head of yours okay?"

_'Breathe, Peck.'_ Inhale. Exhale. This is simple. "Hanging out huh?"

"Yeah. And hand holding, but we won't even do that if you're not ready. We can take this as slow as you want, there is absolutely no pressure. I just needed to tell you how I felt." The doctor leant back into the cushions, her speech finished. It was up to Gail to decide how they would proceed from here.

Gail tentatively sat back down next to the other woman and brushed her fingers lightly across Holly's cheek. "Is this okay?" The blonde murmured uncertainly.

Holly closed her eyes and sighed contentedly, "This is more than okay, Gail."

Gail cupped Holly's face, her thumbs absently stroking the soft skin they found. As she leant in to close the gap between them, Holly met her halfway and kissed her. This kiss was different to their last one. It wasn't alcohol-fuelled or impulsive, it was nervously anticipated and _definitely _sober. Holly let Gail set the pace, her tongue running across the doctor's bottom lip before gently biting and tugging it. Holly gasped, her hips thrusting towards Gail's. That seemed to spur the blonde further, pushing her body forward so it lay completely atop the taller woman. Their kisses were reaching a feverish intensity, tongues battling for dominance and moaning increasing in pitch and tempo. It was getting heated, to the point where sex on the couch was becoming an imminent reality.

"Babysteps?" Gail said breathlessly. She felt drunk; her mind was spinning and her thoughts had completely abandoned her. Every inch of her was on fire, it was like a dam had broken and released a tide of feelings that threatened to consume her.

Holly looked equally as dizzied, an unmistakable glint in her eye that Gail was now going to refer to as 'Holly's fuck-me-eyes'. But as aroused as the doctor was, she was determined to make Gail as comfortable as she could. "As long as you need, cop."

"Can I still sleep in your bed though?" If it were possible, Holly's smile grew even bigger. Gail wondered if her cheeks ever started aching with the amount of smiling she seemed to do.

"Well how about we cuddle and finish watching this movie? Then I am going to find you some pyjamas and I'm going to cuddle you some more in bed while we sleep before I wake up and make you breakfast." The plan sounded perfect, except for one minor detail. While she appreciated the breakfast touch, Gail failed to mention that she never cuddled, ever.

"Do I look like a cuddler?" The blonde deadpanned.

"No, definitely not. But you _do_ look like the kind of person that would make an exception for me." Holly scooted to the end of the couch so they could both lie on the couch comfortably. She held out her arms and waited for the blonde to give in. It took about a minute of glaring on the cop's part before she growled and clambered into Holly's outstretched arms.

Gail huffed, "This is going to happen a lot, isn't it."

"Yeah pretty much." Holly had a shit-eating grin plastered on her face. "So tell me you don't like it."

"I don't. Cuddling is for babies and animals." Gail was pouting, doing her best to remain stiff and rigid.

"Okay, I'm gonna let go…"

"No!" The blonde blurted out. "Fine. It's not as bad as I thought it would be."

She could feel Holly's chest moving with her barely suppressed chuckles. Gail relaxed in Holly's embrace, her head tucking perfectly underneath the doctor's chin. "I hate you."

"You like me." The brunette teased.

Gail sighed irritably before conceding, "I like you."

"Good. I like you too." Holly beamed and squeezed her arms tightly. Gail closed her eyes and smiled, trying to contain the warmth spreading throughout her body. She couldn't remember feeling this happy in a long time.

By time the movie had finished, it was well past midnight. Holly was lightly dozing and awoke to see the credits silently rolling on the screen. She craned her neck forward to see why Gail hadn't stopped the movie and was quickly to realise why she was so quiet. The cop was fast asleep on Holly's chest, her breathing rose and fell in a deep, even rhythm. Smiling, Holly let her head fall back onto the armrest and sighed contentedly. There really wasn't anything better than being able to hold the woman she was slowly falling for. Holly couldn't deny it. Despite only knowing Gail Peck for just shy of a few weeks, with each subsequent interaction, Holly was finding herself increasingly drawn to the blonde enigma. And the fact that the self-professed ice queen felt the same way made Holly's heart soar. Everything was falling into place, the move to Toronto had been good for her.

After some time, Holly decided that if they continued to sleep on the couch for much longer, then it would be hellish on her neck and back in the morning. Plus it seemed silly to stay where they were when she had a perfectly comfortable bed just up the stairs.

"Gail? We're gonna head up to my room now, is that okay? You gotta wake up for me, hun." She nudged the small cop. No response. Great.

"Fine." Holly gently scooted out from beneath the sleeping blonde and stretched out her limbs until she felt sufficiently more awakened. The doctor took a deep breath and then lifted Gail into her arms, carrying her bridal style up the stairs. Despite being fitter than one would expect of a doctor, Holly had her limits. As she neared the top of the staircase, she felt her muscles protesting against the added weight.

"Gail? You're a Peck. There is no way you could still be sleeping right now." Holly puffed out between steps.

"Yep, I know." The blonde nuzzled Holly's shoulder and without opening an eye, mumbled sleepily, "I really just didn't want to get up though."

The doctor was slightly peeved at the admission but acknowledged that the blonde was just too damn cute to stay mad at for long. She decided to reconcile her annoyance by unceremoniously dumping the smaller woman on the bed. Gail awoke with a high pitched squeal, "Holly! What the hell?"

Holly placed her hands on her hips and tilted her head with a cocky smirk, "Sorry cop. I really just didn't want to carry you anymore."

The officer frowned slightly before a cunning smirk flitted across her face. Without any warning, Gail lunged at Holly and tackled her. She pulled the taller woman onto the bed and rolled over, effectively pinning her. "Trust me Holly, messing with Gail Peck is _not _something you should do. I would advise you against playing this game." The blonde's voice was smooth and her movements effortless, not betraying any indication of her previous physical activity.

Holly was breathless, completely caught off guard. Her stomach flipped and the feelings flew southward, suddenly being dominated by the lithe blonde was rather arousing. After the initial shock had worn off, she replied coolly, "Maybe I want to play this game, Gail Peck. What _exactly_ can you do?"


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: **Thanks again for everyone that read, reviewed and favourited this story. By far the best present I could receive. (Actually, I lie; Korrasami was the greatest thing I got. I'm still crying about it, haha).  
>I've written a bit of a one-shot here, my xmas gift (of sorts) to you all. It could be read as a standalone thing, but I meant it as happy fluff with little plot and background for potential future chapters after I finish with the season 45. For clarification, here in NZ you used to have to do a Criminology paper at the University when you went to Police College. It's probably different in Canada but obviously it's creative licence so just go with it. I know it's slightly different but I really hope you guys enjoy it, a merry xmas to you all!

The characters aren't mine, I don't own anything. Just a poor student with crushing debt. All errors, however, are mine. Do feel free to point them out to me xox

* * *

><p><strong>Yuletides and Christmas Gatherings<strong>

_Present day._

It was _that_ time of year. Cold, shitty weather, obligatory gift giving for people she didn't like, and extensive amounts of 'family time'. Gail Peck was _not _the festive type. It had only dawned on her about one week prior, that Christmas was about to happen whether she liked it or not. And she didn't have a single clue what to get Holly. They had known each other for a month, and only seriously started dating for a few _days. _So it begged the question; what was an appropriate gift to get her?

Gail sighed, unable to concentrate on the paperwork she was supposed to get through before she left for the afternoon. She furtively glanced around the office to make sure no one was looking before she clicked onto a series of internet sites for potential inspiration. Screeds of suggestions came up when she searched for 'woman's gift', everything from diamond jewellery to the latest cook book.

It was all generic bullshit.

The images of happy women unwrapping gifts with their standard, nuclear family in the background were making Gail screw her face up in distaste. Quite simply, Gail was unorthodox; standard Christmas traditions had been as far removed from her life as she could allow without igniting Elaine's wrath. Everyone in 15 Division knew better than to invite Gail to participate in the secret Santa rounds that involved everyone in the office. As far as they knew, but had no idea why, Gail hated Christmas.

And then Holly came along. Unbeknownst to the doctor, Gail had no intentions of doing anything Christmas related other than attending a compulsory Peck family lunch. Every year without fail, she and Steve had their own traditions that involved making up excuses to leave lunch early in favour of drinking excessive amounts of alcohol, exchanging gifts and gaming at either Gail's or Steve's place.

While they were in lounging around Holly's apartment the other morning, the doctor had casually mentioned, "I don't know what you're doing for Christmas but I thought we could do something small together a few days before? I'm flying out to Vancouver for a few days to spend Christmas with my parents and I wanted to give you my gift in person."

Several things in Holly's speech made Gail balk. She knew she didn't want to make a big deal about the holiday but it seemed that Holly wanted to celebrate it. But more importantly, the fact that Holly had _already _gotten Gail a gift was terrifying. The blonde hadn't given gift-giving a single thought and now she needed to come up with something fast.

Holly sensed her apprehension and immediately backtracked, "Don't worry! It's nothing huge, I promise. Seriously, don't even worry about it if you're not keen on the idea okay?"

The blonde felt slightly more at ease but she still knew she needed to find Holly a gift. Well, if she were being honest with herself, she _wanted _to get Holly a gift, but it needed to be perfect. And she only had a few days before their impromptu Christmas celebration to buy one. Gail had never felt so much pressure.

* * *

><p><em>Christmas Day, 8 years ago.<em>

Gail Peck trudged off the plane with a heavy scowl on her face. The best possible Christmas present would be getting straight back on the plane and going straight back to Vancouver. But unfortunately that wasn't going to wash with a certain dominating matriarch. Gail had managed to evade dinners with the infamous Superintendent for the whole University semester thus far and to be perfectly honest, it had been the best few months of her life. It was the first time in her life where she felt in control, the first time she had been given such a large amount of independence and autonomy. After highschool, Police Academy was compulsory for the Peck family, it was generally considered as an undisputed fact. However, as part of her academy career, Gail was required to attend a criminology course from a local University. Which University that happened to be was up to the blonde, the only condition being that the Superintendent had to approve the course and Gail had to come top in her class. Naturally, the blonde leapt at the opportunity to leave the Peck life behind her, if only for a semester. The University of British Columbia seemed far enough away from Toronto that Gail could forget she was related to the dragon lady.

For once, she felt _normal._ If she wanted cheap ramen for dinner, then that was all she'd eat. If she didn't feel like going to her 9am tutorial, she would sleep in instead. If she wanted to sleep around, then she could be certain that there would be no gun toting policemen sitting at the dinner table waiting to interrogate her prospective partners. To most people, perhaps the last point seems somewhat drastic. Unfortunately, in the short span of Gail's dating life, this had happened no fewer than five times. Suffice to say, no beau was willing to commit to the blonde any further than an evening meal. But now, her semester was nearing the halfway point and her graduation from Police Academy was not long after that. The fantasy life she had built for herself over a few short months was slowly coming to a close and a small part of Gail's heart ached at the loss.

"Hello poppet." Bill Peck smiled warmly and held his arms out. The elder Peck was a man of few words.

"Hey Daddy." Gail smiled and hugged her father tightly. He kept a warm arm around her as they walked out of the airport, laughing and catching up on everything she had missed while she was away.

While they were driving back to her parents' house, Bill turned towards Gail, "Your mother and I, we're very proud of you. I hope you know that, Gail." He paused awkwardly, "You know your mother, she's just erm … 'Peck-ish'."

He knew she went too far sometimes, but he'd never once called Elaine out for it and defended Gail. It hurt Gail to see her father stand by and watch her be berated on an almost daily basis by her mother. The blonde sighed, "I know, Dad."

They sat in silence for the remainder of the journey, neither wanting to push the issue any further.

As soon as she had settled the bags in her old room and been accosted by her mother and several obnoxious family members, Gail managed to escape. The blonde weaved through the throngs of people until she found the single family member she cared about seeing.

"Hey Steve!" She launched herself at him, sloshing his drink dangerously to the side.

"Ahh!" The older man yelped but recovered well, "How are you sister? I see College hasn't changed you."

He grabbed her a drink and dragged her outside where it wasn't as crowded and they could talk freely. It was the first time they had properly talked in months, neither seemed to have the time to sit down and catch up.

"So Gail, any tales of debauchery? College frat parties and late night shenanigans?" Steve poked her in the ribs teasingly.

Gail slapped his hand away, "If I _did _happen to attend some evening activities, what makes you think I'm gonna tell _you, _Steven?"

He grinned widely, determined to get _something _out of her. Knowing his sister, she was probably the breaker of several hearts and a drinking legend on campus. "C'mon, one thing. That's all I'm asking for."

"Fine." Gail huffed, "I went to a party. A hot girl, beer pong and then rooftop drinks were involved. That's it."

Steve's eyes were popping out, it was better than anything he could've imagined. "You can't seriously be stopping there. I need deeetails!"

The truth was, Gail both wanted and needed to talk to Steve about it. Or at least talk to someone about it. _It _being her first sexual encounter with another woman. At first, she'd played it off as a one-time, drunken encounter with a friend she knew she was never going to keep in touch with. But it had played on her mind for weeks afterwards. The blonde had enjoyed the night immensely, it had ignited feelings inside her that she had no idea existed. The heady rush of euphoria Gail had felt as the other woman had touched her for the first time had seared itself in her mind. It was intoxicating, and she knew she wanted more. The blonde didn't know what that meant for her identity, and she knew even less about what she was going to do about her friend. Gail was desperate for a second opinion.

That opinion, however, was going to have to wait. Elaine had finally found them and Gail was going to have to make forced conversation. Steve politely excused himself and left his sister to fend for herself. At first, it was easy, essentially following a script; University courses, keeping up with Academy work, and any potential males in her life. But oddly, their conversation took an unexpected turn.

"Now I want you to talk to your cousin Hannah. If it were possible, she's gotten even more rebellious since last we saw her. Her poor parents, perhaps you can encourage her to put something more appropriate on." Elaine sniffed in a distasteful manner.

"Mother, what on Earth are you talking about?" Gail's eyes drifted towards the hoard of people, trying to pick out her cousin. After Steve and her father, Hannah was probably her favourite. After a few sweeps, she finally found her. Finally, it dawned on Gail what perturbed her mother, but that wasn't to say she agreed with her mother's assessment in the slightest. After an extended amount of time in New York, her cousin's look had changed dramatically. She had turned her luscious mane of dark hair into dreadlocks and had stretchers and multiple piercings in both ears. To Gail, it was the most magnificent display of rebellion in the midst of shallow Peck grandeur she had ever seen.

Hannah Peck was roughly the same age as Gail, but where Gail had been inducted into the Policing dynasty, Hannah had eschewed her parents' wishes and gone to art school. Luckily her parents were more forgiving than Gail's own would have been, had the blonde been in her situation. Snide comments and scathing remarks at her profession aside, her parents were in fact proud of her. Her artwork had been showcased in several galleries already, prompting, "Oh, Hannah just released some more pieces the other week, sold some to a German art collector for an exhibit in Berlin. Yes, we know her talent is going to waste, but it just goes to show, Pecks can succeed anywhere we choose to."

Why her cousin bothered coming back to Canada for Christmas was beyond Gail's comprehension. Hannah had managed to break free of the policing shackles and was living life on her own terms. Gail envied her cousin; although she couldn't fault the results of her own life, the way she had been brought up was, at times, nothing short of childhood abuse. Where other children would be playing outside after school, Gail was forced to complete a series of tasks designed to improve her hand-eye coordination, memory and abstract reasoning, the threat of no dinner hanging over her head should she fail. Elaine's drive to create perfect police cadets out of her children and her callous, uncaring nature left Gail with bitter feelings about their relationship.

And it was this underlying resentment of the way she had been treated all her life, coupled with her newfound autonomy, that caused her to speak out against her mother for the first time. She fixed Elaine with her most steely gaze and spoke rather nonchalantly, "I think Hannah looks fine. But perhaps my Peck manual has been updated while I've been away, was there a new rule about suitable dress that I missed?"

"You would do well to heed my advice, Abigail. You're graduating shortly, I can have you placed anywhere I choose. A rural posting up North? Maybe you can serve and protect the town from bears." Elaine smiled sweetly but her eyes betrayed her anger. How _dare_ her daughter speak to her with such disrespect?

It struck Gail like a cold slap. She shook slightly from the righteous fury that was threatening to overwhelm her. All of her hard work; the late night cram sessions, extra fitness work and the long hours writing assignments? All meaningless, if Elaine decided to take it away from her because she was trying to spite her.

"My career is _not _to be touched by you, is that clear? You can fuck with my life any other way, but my job is out of bounds. I'm going to do it on my own merits and I don't want a single damn thing from you." Her blue eyes were blazing with fury, a very different blue to Elaine's cold, navy depths. It looked as though their altercation was about to reach new heights but luckily, Steve intervened.

The ginger man stepped between them, handing them both a glass of champagne. "Mother, Uncle Derrick is asking for you. Something about your opinion on the new standards and disciplines rules they're introducing over at 25 Division."

"Of course. Thank you Steven, Gail would do well to take a leaf from your book." Elaine nodded at her bother appreciatively and gave Gail a haughty once-over before leaving.

Steve turned towards his sister and give her a gentle smile, "Hey. Don't worry about it, she isn't going to do anything to your career."

He tried to wrap a protective arm around her but Gail pushed it away and bitterly spoke, "She'd never do anything to _your_ career, Steven. Why am I the one that always gets fucked over?"

The other man shrugged, there was no simple answer. Their family dynamic was too complicated. He changed the subject instead, pressing a small box into her hands. "Well, I got you a present if that helps."

"Not really." But she was already unwrapping her gift. It was a necklace, and rather beautiful really. A simple silver chain with a small lightsaber on the end. Complete epitome of all things nerd, Gail could only fathom where he found it.

"Your real gift is in your room already. But that one is cause 'the force is strong in this one'. You're going to do great as a police officer." Steve gave her a grin, "But you didn't seriously think I'd just get you a necklace, right? C'mon, let's go. You need a break."

They raced up the stairs toward the bedrooms, ignoring the looks of annoyance that were cast their way. There was a giant wrapped box sitting on top of her bed next to the bags she'd thrown there earlier. Gail unwrapped the paper with trembling fingers, childish anticipation making her movements clumsy and slow. It was a gaming console. Her brother had bought her a new Playstation. Several games fell from the loose wrapping and tumbled onto the bed, a variety of shooting and fighting games.

She tackled the other man with a crushing hug, tears welling in the corners of her eyes. "Thanks Steve."

"Eww Gail germs, gross." Steve smiled and returned the hug, resting his chin on top of her head.

Finally, they let go. "Ready to go out and face the music?"

"No." Gail sighed, "But I suppose we have to. Let's get it over with."

"Don't worry, little sis. I've got your back."

As they descended down the stairs, Steve gave her a final supportive shoulder squeeze before disappearing amongst the other family members. Not wanting to bump into her mother, Gail decided to find her cousin.

She found the darker haired woman a fair way from everyone else, sitting outside on the lawn and staring out at the trees. A wide smile spread across Hannah's face when she looked up and found Gail giving her a wry grin in return.

"Hey little cousin, how's tricks? I hear the newest addition to the Peck Police force is going to hit the streets soon, congrats." Hannah grinned. The woman was casually stretched out on the ground, a beer resting in the grass next to her.

"Hey, Hannah Banana. I'm doing okay, just dealing with the usual family drama …" Gail rolled her eyes and sat down next to her while the other woman nodded sympathetically. They both knew how exceedingly difficult it was to grow up as a Peck.

"Are you gay?" The blonde blurted out. She'd never given an ounce of thought to her cousin's sexuality, but right now, she was struggling with her own and Hannah seemed like a good person to ask.

The darker haired woman turned towards Gail confusedly and eyed her for a moment before they widened in surprise.

"You fucked a girl and now you're confused about it, aren't you." Hannah cut to the chase with a broad grin spreading across her face.

"Yes. A girl in my course, Jess." There was an unspoken rule between them; absolutely no bullshit. And it suited them both perfectly. "Are you gay?"

Hannah mulled the question over before deciding on a response. "Well, I guess I'm sortof gay. I'm Pan, I prefer the person over what's between their legs. Sexuality is a spectrum, Gail. It's a lot more than just black and white."

"That sounds like a completely art school thing to say." Why did everything need to be so complicated? The blonde rolled her eyes, "And it's also completely unhelpful."

"Gail. Look, I know you like to be in control of everything, that's why we can't play Monopoly any more. But with something like your sexuality, just relax okay? Try not to think about it. Just let your body do what feels natural to it, you can't force these things." Hannah shook her head playfully, her long dreads swishing side to side while she chuckled.

"Eugh." Hannah's chuckles turned into a full-on roar of laughter. Gail had always been as much of a control-freak as she had been a free bird. Some things never change. Gail gave her cousin a sardonic grin and punched her lightly in the arm.

Hannah tilted her head and asked, "Are you guys dating now?"

Gail had already considered the option but was hesitant about it. "Nah, she wants to but I'm leaving after the semester ends. I don't know Hannah, I don't think I could do the whole relationship thing with a woman."

"Why?"

"Cause guys are easy. Women are complicated. They don't say what they mean, they have complicated feelings that I can't keep up with and I'm a Peck. Pecks' are not lesbians." The blonde lay back in the grass, frowning as she tried to enunciate her feelings.

It was Hannah's turn to punch her in the arm. Ignoring the blonde's indignant whining, she started, "Gail, shut up. Gross gender generalisations aside, you are _more _than just a 'Peck'.

"Whatever." Gail shrugged becoming a petulant teenager again, she didn't want to talk about it any further. It seemed moot point, considering there was no way she was going to continue her relationship with Jess anyway. "Want another beer?"

Her cousin snorted, "Fuck yes. Your mother's been giving me shitty looks all day."

"She's been doing the same thing to me. Wanna head out to the treehouse?" Gail jerked her thumb towards their childhood sanctuary at the back of the garden.

"Yep. Bring Cheesepuffs."

Gail may not have been a festive person. She rejected 'family time' in favour of sitting in a wooden hut drinking with her cousin. _This_ was her Christmas. It meant celebrating with the people she loved and in the manner she felt most comfortable. Where her other family members were busy lobbying achievements and trying to one-up each other, Gail had decided to redefine what Christmas meant for her. After sifting through the façade of 'Christmas lunch' with the Pecks, she had come to realise that all she wanted was some good company and a cold beer. And right to this day, she had kept that tradition alive, but now she was going to have to redefine her Christmas traditions for a certain brunette doctor.

* * *

><p><em>Present day.<em>

"Elaine's coming!" A man's voice barked out behind her.

Gail's head shot up and she sat up ramrod straight in an instant, her face an emotionless slate. As soon as she heard Steve's laughing, she turned around and gave him a foul look, "Uncalled for, Steven."

"Aww c'mon now Grinchy, what's wrong?" He sat on her desk and tried to see what she was doing.

"IdunnowhattogetHolly." Gail mumbled, ducking her head in embarrassment. Steve cocked his brow, a grin tugging at his lips.

Gail blew out an exasperated sigh and repeated her previous statement, "Holly. I don't know if I should get her a gift."

"Your forensic friend from the morgue?" Steve knew where this was heading but decided to feign innocence for now.

Gail drew a deep breath, unsure whether to finally reveal her burgeoning new relationship to someone for the first time. "Steve? Holly is my … person. I like her and I think I should get her something for Christmas."

Steve smiled and hugged his sister, whispering in her ear, "I already knew that, but thanks for letting me know, Gail."

Gail blushed, her discomfort was obvious but she was pleased that Steve wasn't making a huge deal about it. "Well? What should I get her?"

'Her phone buzzed on the desk next to Steve. '_Come over tomorrow night for Christmas? I'll bake you cookies?'_

"Uuuuugh. Steve, she's baking me cookies." Gail buried her face in her hands and ground her teeth in frustration.

"Yeah, you definitely need to get her something now. She's turning you into a right Christmas elf, Grinchy." Steve snickered at his own joke.

"Fuck you, Steve."

"Okay, tell me what you know about her and we'll brainstorm some stuff now." For all his faults, Steve was the best brother a person could ask for. The paperwork lay forgotten as the Peck siblings surfed the internet and browsed potential gifts until they found something that was going to be perfect for Holly.

* * *

><p>There was no Christmas tree. That was the first thing Gail immediately noticed about Holly's apartment when she arrived. In fact, nothing had been changed at all.<p>

After greeting her with a kiss, Gail was ushered away from the kitchen where the smell of baking cookies was already making her mouth water in anticipation. Holly beamed, practically prancing around the kitchen. She clearly loved the holiday. "They'll be done in about 15 minutes, think you can occupy yourself for that long? Your gift is on the coffee table, you can open it now if you want."

And sure enough, a wrapped gift sat on the coffee table tempting Gail to open it. Her fingers were itching to see what Holly had given her, although frankly it could've been anything and Gail would still be happy. There was a small box in the corner of the living room that had been partially opened. On closer inspection, Gail found that it contained Christmas decorations: tinsel, Mistletoe and assorted Santa hats and reindeer ears. The blonde wondered briefly whether Holly had decided not to put it out so it wouldn't make her feel uncomfortable and she was touched by the notion. While the doctor was occupied with baking Christmas cookies, she decided to take it upon herself to decorate Holly's apartment.

"Gail, I love it." Holly beamed as she cast her eyes around the room. Tinsel had been wrapped around the staircase and the ornaments that would normally be hung off a tree were now strung around the room. A makeshift Christmas tree had been built on the coffee table from whatever Gail could find and underneath it were two gifts. And the blonde herself had put on a Santa hat. Grinchy Gail had put on a hat knowing it would make Holly happy. It was all too much for the brunette. The doctor lunged forward and captured Gail's lips with her own. There was no other way she could convey just how much it meant to her that Gail was trying so hard to make her happy.

As they broke apart, Holly held Gail's face with her hands and stroked her, "Thank you for doing this with me, Gail."

The blonde flushed a bright red, matching her hat. "Can I open my present now?"

Holly laughed and handed the other woman her gift. Gail tore the wrapping open, not knowing what to expect but was both surprised and elated at what she found inside. Two new Playstation games; ones she didn't have but had been meaning to buy for several months now. She had no idea how Holly knew what she wanted.

"Did you talk to Dov?" She asked suspiciously.

Holly blushed and looked away, "Yeah, I wanted to get you something you wanted but nothing too serious. We haven't known each other that long, I didn't want to put any pressure on you."

Gail gave her a small peck on the cheek and cutely ducked her head, "Well I love it. So thank you."

Holly picked up the remaining present and held it in her hands for a few moments before meticulously unwrapping the gift. She was one of those people who tried to keep the paper as whole as possible when unwrapping something. It was a habit that always struck Gail as absurd, who bothered keeping the paper afterwards?

The doctor pulled a royal blue beanie from the paper and her eyes widened when the splotches on the beanie weren't in fact random, but rather resembled a police box. Holly bounced with excitement and jammed the hat on immediately, "You got me a TARDIS hat?"

"Well you had the teapot in your kitchen and I've never seen you wear a beanie before." Gail tried her hardest to look casual but she was extremely pleased that her present was so well-received. "Besides, you look really fucking cute in that hat."

"I'll have to wear it often then." Holly winked and then resumed her excited jabbering about her new gift, "Ahhhhhhh! I've always wanted one of these, seriously Gail, you are amazing."

Gail sat back and let Holly enjoy the moment. Christmas had never felt like this before. Not with Steve and Hannah, or even Nick. She'd never bought into the gift-giving aspect, instead preferring to get blindingly drunk with her brother and play games. But the look on Holly's face when she'd opened Gail's gift was undoubtedly one of the best feelings ever. Maybe she needed to reconsider her future Christmas plans, there was no way she could go another year without seeing that look of pure, undeniable happiness.

"Merry Christmas Gail." Holly pulled her in close and hugged her. Gail felt a slight dampness on her cheek and didn't know whether it was from Holly or herself. When she finally let go, Holly glanced up and remarked, "Ohhhh, so _that's _where the Mistletoe went …"

The doctor winked at Gail and leant in to kiss her. Gail needed no encouragement and their lips collided with bruising force. They clutched at one another, trying to get closer and feel as much of the other person as humanly possible. The combination of kissing Holly and the sheer emotionality of the moment was almost enough to make Gail burst into tears of happiness. She needed to pull away in order to compose herself, everything was quickly becoming almost overwhelming.

The words felt strange coming from her mouth but even stranger were the feelings of happiness the blossomed inside her when she uttered, "Merry Christmas Holly."


End file.
